The Gemini Chronicles
by Pandora of Ithilien
Summary: Torchwood and UNIT deal with aliens. So does the Gemini team... but they also deal with demons. Witches, ex-demons, genetically-altered humans, they can all find a home here.
1. An Interesting Offer

Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine, Torchwood and Doctor Who are not mine. Paula and all OCs are mine, however.

_**Chapter 1 - An Interesting Offer:**_ It was probably the only good thing the Source had done for him, this job, Cole Turner reflected as he read a case file. Work distracted him, if only for brief periods, and he needed the distraction. Anything to forget the suspicion and hate in Phoebe's eyes...

His dark musings were interrupted by the sound of his door opening. He looked up to see a woman at his door. She looked vaguely familiar, but he was pretty sure he'd never seen her before. She reminded him of... well, Paige, honestly, but that was probably just a coincidence.

"Cole Turner?" the woman asked. Her voice was light, with a hint of a British accent, like someone who wasn't native to the U.K. but had lived there for some time.

"Who wants to know?" She laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh, I almost forgot how..." She trailed off. "Never mind. I want to make you an offer. For a new job."

"You don't look like a lawyer, Miss..."

"Ravenwood, Paula Ravenwood, and I'm not. I'm a PI, actually."

"A PI? What do you want with me?"

She smiled, a strangely mysterious smile, before pulling a card from the pocket of her black duster. It was a blank business card, with a number written in red ink. "When you get sick of chasing down your ex and want a fresh start, call me." He barely glanced at the card before taking it from a hand sheathed in a black glove.

* * *

He couldn't do this anymore. He'd thought he was free of evil when Paige had given him that potion, but then Barbas had intervened. It was over. He would never get Phoebe back, and he was sick of getting his heart stepped on. He wasn't sure if she was being intentionally cruel, but it hardly mattered.

In a sudden flash of rage, he picked up the framed photo of the two of them and hurled it against the wall. Why couldn't she listen to him, even for a few minutes? She'd always listened before, why not now? How could she think he would have hurt her on purpose? He didn't understand, and doubted if he ever would.

"It doesn't matter now," he said to the empty room. He was leaving. He didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do, but he was out of here. That was when his eyes landed on the white card Paula Ravenwood had given him two weeks earlier. He picked it up, studying it thoughtfully. A fresh start sounded good right about now. He grabbed the phone and dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Miss Ravenwood? It's Cole Turner."

"Hi. Yeah, I was told you'd call."

"Uh, you gave me this number."

"Not exactly, Mr. Turner, but I'd rather explain in person. Are you alone?"

"Yeah, and I'm at home. I can give you the address, if you want to come by."

"No need." And the line disconnected. A few seconds later, glittering orb-lights filled the air. Cole stared, not just surprised that someone was orbing in, but confused by the color. The orbs weren't the usual color. They were a bright blue, several shades darker than a Whitelighter's ought to be, but nowhere near dark enough to belong to a Darklighter. They dissipated to reveal the woman he'd spoken to before... with key differences. The woman he'd seen had long dark red hair caught in a braid. This woman's hair was only chin length, and she was missing the black duster. She also seemed... younger. The clearest similarity was the elbow-length black gloves she wore. He decided to forgo questions about the orbing in favor of questions about her metamorphosis.

"Have you had some sort of makeover?"

She laughed, and even the laugh was different. "No. This may take some explaining. See, you've never met me before, well, not exactly, anyway. The woman who you met was me... from several years in the future."

"The future? Don't Whitelighters know better than to screw with time?"

"I'm a witchlighter, not a Whitelighter; don't insult me. As for that... Turner, I spent nearly two years traveling through time and space, so I know the risks and apparently, my future self thought recruiting you was worth them. She won't say why, though."

"Time and space? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh dear, I was afraid of this reaction. The Doctor said it happens a lot." She shook her head. "Maybe we should sit down. This takes a while to explain."

So they sat down at the dining room table, facing each other. Cole wasn't sure what he'd just signed himself up for, and she still bugged him with her familiarity - more so now than before, because she was younger. She really did remind him of Paige, and that was irritating. Couple that with the orbing, though, and it stopped being irritating and became alarming.

"You're not related to the Halliwells, are you?" he asked cautiously. Sharp eyes, that he now noticed were a strange gold color, widened, then narrowed.

"You're an observant one, aren't you." It wasn't a question. She sighed, running a hand through her sleek cap of hair. "Yes. In fact, I'm Paige Matthews' twin. They don't know, I don't want them to know, and that's the end of that." She shrugged, her posture dismissive. "They don't factor into this, Mr. Turner," she added quietly.

"Why do you think your... future self wanted me?"

"I don't know exactly. You matter to her, I assume you're friends or something with me in the future, but like I said, no details. A smart move, actually. Risking a paradox is... well, if you meddle with your own past you have to play it carefully, or you may rip the universe apart."

She paused, considering. "Practically... I know a lot about the supernatural world, Mr. Turner. I've spent years traveling, ever since I left the Doctor. He gave me the wanderlust bug, and even grounded, I could indulge. I've learned a lot about various types of magic, but you... Especially when it comes to demons - if you'll forgive my stating the obvious - you know far more than I ever will. For what I plan to do, I need experts of multiple kinds, and I definitely need a demonologist. You certainly fit the bill."

"Who's the Doctor? And what, exactly, do you intend to do anyway?" Cole leaned forward, thinking he was about to get to the bottom of all of this. Time-traveling witches, ambiguous job offers... He wanted to know what the hell he was getting himself into.

"The Doctor is an alien. He looks human, but he's not. He's a Time Lord, and the simplest way to tell what he is to check his heartbeat. He's got two hearts." She paused when she noticed that Cole's chest had stopped moving. "Cole?" Nothing. So she slapped him.

Cole sucked in a sharp gasp of air, blinking. That slap had hurt. Granted, not much, and it had gotten him to breathe again, so... But this was too much. Aliens? "An alien," he said skeptically.

"Yeah," said Paula, unperturbed by the skepticism. She'd once been a skeptic herself. "Look, I don't expect you to believe me right off the bat. The only proof I have..." She smiled again, pure amusement this time. "Well, I guess I'll just have to show you." She held out a hand. Cole stared at it.

"I don't like orbing."

"I'm sure you don't, but where we're going, they only expect one person to teleport, and they expect the form of teleportation to be orbing. Let's not complicate this any more than it already is." It was true, Jack only expected her to orb in, with her companion - she'd said she was bringing one - riding shotgun, as it were. And it was a good thing she'd gotten his permission to bring a civilian into Torchwood, because it looked like she was going to need the visual.

_Why_ had her future self pushed Turner on her? Anyone else she might approach would at least know about aliens - once you knew about aliens, she'd found, you were more likely to accept magic. And if a demonstration was needed, she'd orb. Damn it all, but she hated the explanation phase.

A large hand closed over hers, and she looked up into blue eyes. "Let's go then," he said calmly. She gave him a slight smile and orbed them out.

When they rematerialized, they were in front of a Weevil cell at the Torchwood 3 Hub. Cole's eyebrows shot up so far they nearly disappeared into his hair. "What the hell is that?"

"A Weevil. It's an alien." She watched him with mild amusement as he looked at her, then back at the Weevil, eyes narrowing as he studied it further. She looked at the Weevil too, remembering the first time she'd seen one.

* * *

_It came hurtling out of the dark Cardiff alley, and Paula's only warning was the flash of a mind that was barely a mind at all. It was animalistic, only thinking in terms of ATTACK! She leapt back, shooting a blast out with her telepathy, but since she'd never encountered something like this, it wasn't coordinated enough to knock the thing out, only disorient it. Luckily, River picked up something - it looked like an empty beer bottle - and hit the thing over the head. It went down like a stone. _

_"Thanks, River," Paula said. Then, raising her voice, "Hey, Doctor, I thought you said we were only here to refuel, not get jumped by psycho aliens!" _

_The Doctor, who had been doing... something around the back of the TARDIS, walked over, grinning as he ran a hand through his tousled red hair. "Oh, that's a Weevil, that is, or well, Jack calls 'em that," he said in his cheerful Irish brogue. _

_"And what's its real name?" River wanted to know. _

_"Oh, now, you don't need to know that! Wouldn't want you telling Jack later. And speaking of Jack, we'd better go before Torchwood shows up. It's only 1974, so even the Cardiff branch still hates me. Come on, we're going to Argenta, a whole planet of silver! No, really, all silver. Even the people, their skin is silver. Eyes are purple though, not sure why... Don't you want to see that? Let's go, girls!" And he disappeared into the TARDIS. _

_Paula and River grinned and exchanged glances before following him in. "I swear, he's such a child sometimes," River muttered._

_"And we wouldn't have it any other way," Paula replied with a laugh._

* * *

Shaking the memories away, Paula turned when she felt a familiar presence behind her. "Hey, Jack."

"Well, well, it's my favorite fallen angel," he said, smirking. Jack found the fact that she was half-angel a constant source of amusement. "So this is the new recruit, huh?" he continued, eyeing Cole. "Nice choice, if I do say so myself."

"Just remember this is the 21st century. People still have categories - and sexual orientations."

"Oh, damn," Jack said good-naturedly before walking over to Cole. "Hi. Captain Jack Harkness. And you are?"

"Cole Turner," Cole answered, shaking the offered hand. "Are you in charge here?"

"Yep. Why?"

"Just curious."

"Hey, where's the rest of the band anyway?" Paula asked.

"Paula, it's about 5 AM over here," Jack pointed out. "They won't be in for another few hours."

"Oh, time difference, I forgot."

"You spend two years with a time-hopping alien and forget about time differences?"

"Oh, shut up, Harkness."

"Make me, angel girl."

"Do you two do this a lot?" Cole cut in.

"Yeah," Paula admitted.

"All the time," Jack said.

"So, what do you think?" Paula asked Cole, turning back to him. "You wanted proof, I think, so now you have it."

Cole shook his head, trying to think about what to say. "Well, I definitely believe you now, I'll say that much."

"So are you going to take my offer?"

Cole paused, thinking it through. He glanced at Jack, who was smirking, and looked back at the Weevil. This was definitely not something he was used to. Still... it was something new, which was what he'd been intending to find. It was still the world he knew - Paula had said she needed a demonologist, after all - but with a new twist added. Best of all, he'd be based in Boston. On the East Coast, about as far as he could get from San Francisco - and Phoebe - without leaving the country entirely.

"You know what? I think I will."

* * *

Meanwhile, in a place far from Cardiff, three Elders watched the scene unfold in a large pool of water. "I told you this would go horribly wrong!" Sandra snapped at her two colleagues. "We should have never interfered with Cole Turner and the Halliwells, we should have simply let things play out!"

"And risk him reconciling with Phoebe? Now you know we couldn't have that," Silas retorted, irritated by the female Elder's squeamishness.

"They wouldn't have needed reconciling if we'd done the right thing in the first place and informed the Charmed Ones of Cole's possession by the Source," muttered Sandra.

"Now, now, all the Elders but you agreed that was the proper course, my dear," Gideon cut in silkily. "And now, well... Turner's association with the Charmed Ones is finished."

"Yes, but now he's joined up with a rogue witch we have no sway over! I highly doubt having Cole connected to the Charmed Ones would have been as disastrous as this could be!"

"Anything is better than the chance of the noble Warren-Halliwell line being corrupted by demonic blood," Silas declared. "It's finished now, and nothing you can do or say will change that, Sandra!"

Just outside of the room where the three Elders argued, Leo Wyatt stood, frozen with shock and a growing level of horror. Possession, not corruption? And the Elders had known... and done nothing? And, apparently, worse than nothing, actually increasing the damage? No, this couldn't be. But if it was true... God, what a mess. And how was he going to tell Phoebe? And would any of them get the chance to tell Cole? What was this about a rogue witch? Rogue witches were really rare, why would one of them be interested in Cole?

First things first. Confront them, find out what exactly was going on. So he pushed the door open, and the sound of it brought the Elders' argument to a screeching halt.

"Leo..." Silas began, looking alarmed.

"Is it true?" Leo said, cutting off his superior.

"At the time," Sandra said, her voice regretful, "we thought we were doing the right thing. But -"

"We were right," Gideon said firmly. "And I'm afraid I cannot allow you to remember what you have found out, Leo," he added, stretching out a hand to his former protégé. Leo fought against Gideon's power, but he knew it was hopeless. As the world faded to black, he wondered how beings meant to be all that was good could do something that seemed the polar opposite.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was lying in bed, in the room he shared with Piper. His wife was getting dressed, but she seemed to feel his gaze on her and turned around. "Hi, sleepyhead. You OK? Because you seemed out of it last night."

"Yeah, fine. I was just really exhausted, for some reason." He paused. Some stray thought was niggling at the back of his mind, something he thought he ought to tell Piper and her sisters. "Piper..."

"What?"

"I'm not sure. I was about to say something, but then I forgot."

"Oh, well, I'm sure if it's that important you'll remember later. I've gotta go, I've got to call P3, make sure everything's running smoothly. Just don't stress over it; it'll come to you."

"Yeah." But he had a feeling it wouldn't, and worse, that whatever it was, it was important.

A/N: OK, I guess I've made it clear I don't like the Elders. And yes, this will be important later - I'm generally not a militant shipper, but one of the ships I'm firm on is Phoebe/Cole, so this fic will be Phoebe/Cole - eventually. Other ships will become apparent as the story moves on, though they will be generally canon.


	2. First Blood

Disclaimer: Not mine, barring OCs.

_**Chapter 2 - First Blood:**_ Just over a month later (which had given him the time to take care of his affairs in San Franscisco and find a place in Boston), Cole and Paula were setting up a library of sorts. Paula had a lot of notebooks from her travels, filled with information about magic, demons, aliens... Cole wasn't sure what she _didn't _have in these things.

"Why don't you just put it all on the computer?" he asked dryly.

"I haven't got the patience, that's why," Paula said, lifting a stack of notebooks and sliding them onto a shelf. She didn't see the photograph fall out of one of them, but Cole did, and he picked it up. The photo was of a slightly younger Paula and a strange man. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what a picture like this was doing shoved in with notebooks. The pose the two struck made it clear they were involved.

"What do you have - ?" Paula's voice cut off when she focused on the photo. "Oh. I didn't even know that was in there." She grabbed it.

"You OK?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm fine." She shrugged. "Let me go put this... somewhere." And she practically ran out of the room. _Huh. Looks like I'm not the only one with relationship issues. _He shook his head and went back to work.

When she came back, Cole asked, "So, you never said how this place is going to run. I mean, do we do normal cases too, or what?"

"No, the PI firm's just a front. We're... an unofficial subsidiary of DESI."

"DESI?"

"Department of Extraterrestrial and Supernatural Investigations. See, ever since our current president took office, their funding's been scaled back; mostly for the Department of Defense. Not surprising, considering, but, well... DESI didn't take it well. So they're clandestinely supporting cells like ours - though as far as I know, which really isn't much, we're the only one with double duty."

"What, aliens and demons?"

"Exactly. My fault, of course. I can't give up one world for the other, they're both too much a part of me." She smiled ruefully. "Blame the Doctor. Or maybe Diana and Con. Or both. I don't know."

"Diana and Con?"

"Diana was my mentor, and second adoptive mother. Con was her lover, and the only father figure I've ever had. They introduced me to magic." _And after what the Elders did to them, they made me a rogue, though I don't think they meant to. _

"Second?"

"Long story." She shrugged, a little too casually. "My first adoption didn't go as well as Paige's. I met Diana when I was 14."

"Oh. What, she took you from your parents?"

"No, she was my foster mother. I'd been in foster care since the age of 6. Like I said, not as lucky as Paige."

"Ah. So, does this group have a name?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yeah. Gemini Investigations."

"Why Gemini?"

_Good question. But I don't want to talk about that either. That brave girl, staring down machines of death, just so we could escape... _"A girl I once knew. That was her name." This was why the Doctor had found his past so hard to discuss. So much death, so many people who no one would remember.

"Odd name."

"I've heard stranger."

"So have I. So, what do we do? Just wait for some sort of message?" As if his words had called it, the phone rang then. Paula glanced at it, then threw him a bright smile.

"Apparently." She picked it up. "Gemini Investigations. Oh, hi, Detective." She paused listening. "Oh. Well, sure, give me fifteen minutes." She hung up and slanted him a look. "Come on, Turner, time to get your feet wet."

He followed her outside, and then said, "So, who's driving?"

"I am. Do you even have a license?"

"Yeah, I've got one. So I can drive."

"When was the last time you were in Boston?"

"Uh... the forties, maybe?"

"I'm driving."

"Right," Cole muttered, before sliding into the front passenger seat of the black compact. "You know," he commented, "once we have a full team, you'll need a bigger car than this."

"Yeah, I know, Torchwood's got a custom SUV. I just hate big cars." She shrugged. "Anyway, since I'm sure you're wondering, we're heading to the morgue. Apparently there's something off about a corpse that came in this morning."

"Wondeful. So, I take it you have connections with the local cops?"

"Yeah, Detective Moran's an old friend."

"That's useful."

"It can be, particularly with something like this." She shook her head. "Wish Daniel'd been more specific on the phone." He didn't call her in that often, after all.

They got to the morgue and headed in, Paula flashing some sort of ID at the door to make sure no one stopped them. Cole tried to catch a glimpse of it, but only saw blank white paper. He'd ask later. Instead, he just followed her - he wasn't usually big on taking someone else's lead, but as she seemed to know which way to go and he didn't, not following would be pointless at best.

A young man in a dress shirt and pressed slacks was waiting for them outside what Cole assumed was the room where this particular corpse was. "Hey, Paula." Then he saw Cole. "Finally got a partner, huh? What took so long?"

"Oh, I needed to actually find someone who can keep up with me, you know?"

"Yeah, I know personally how tough that can be." Moran smiled, a little ruefully.

"Well, seeing as you're now engaged, that only proves that everything happens for a reason. And I didn't mean it like that anyway," Paula rejoined, rolling her eyes and muttering something about typical assumptions. Then she and Cole walked into what turned out to be an autopsy room. The M.E. looked up when she saw them.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Mitchell," the older blonde woman said. "So, Detective Moran says you might know something about this case."

"Maybe," Paula said. "What's unusual about it?"

"There's no blood in the body." Great. So, vampires, then, Cole thought with irritation. Didn't they know better than to leave victims lying around?

"Right." Paula stepped forward to take a closer look at the body. Cole wondered why; it was clear what this was, wasn't it?

"Pam?" Moran called. "Can you come here?" Dr. Mitchell - Pam, apparently - left the room. Cole moved to stand next to Paula and looked at the body himself, surprised to see that the telltale fangmarks weren't there.

"So it wasn't a vampire," he murmured.

"No, I don't think so. I think it was a Haemovore."

"A what?"

"Vampiric humanoids. An evolution of humans from some alternate future." She shrugged. "Something to do with radiation - or maybe it was some kind of toxin; I don't know much about it. The Doctor ran across them once, but that was way before my time."

"Alien vampires? Aren't the demonic variety bad enough?"

"Apparently not. There's alien werewolves as well, and the Doctor had this theory that the British royal family's among them, but that's beside the point." She grinned at his expression. "Sorry. Informational overload?"

"Not really, no. I'm just wondering if any of the 'demons' your sisters have vanquished over the years might have been aliens after all. Some of the stories I used to hear..."

"I doubt it. Potions and spells don't work well on aliens. I tried. Anyway, about the Haemovore... the Doctor said he thought the future they came from was averted; maybe an alternate timeline... damn that Rift."

"Rift?"

"Rift in time and space. Cardiff's got the worst; that's why Jack's branch of Torchwood's there, but part of why I came back to Boston is that there's a smaller one here. Damn it! I remember everything he said, but he didn't tell us much." She shook her heac, clearly annoyed with herself.

"Maybe there's more in your notebooks," Cole offered.

"Maybe, but I doubt it. I have a very good memory; part of learning to control telepathy involves refining other brain functions, like memory retention. Which isn't always a good thing. But I doubt there's anything more. I'll check, though."

"Well, we can't do any more here, so I suggest we go back to headquarters," Cole said. "Then we can go through your notes, maybe call Jack if necessary, figure out how to handle this."

"Good idea," she said.

* * *

Once they were back in the car, Cole commented, "You never said Moran was an ex of yours."

"You didn't ask. And that was high school. Daniel just likes to tease me." She shook her head. "And, of course, the comment had all the typical assumptions. You should have heard the Doctor rant about it."

"Oh, the innuendo concerning you and me?"

"Yeah, that." She smiled, a little sadly. "People made comments about us and the Doctor - there were two of us, River and me. So the comments were worse at times, actually."

She cut in front of someone on the road and Cole winced. "Are we in some kind of hurry?"he wanted to know.

"Not yet, but we may be soon, so if we move fast now, we'll be more prepared later."

"That makes absolutely no sense."

"Sure it does."

"No, it doesn't."

"Sure - Wait. This kind of argument can last for hours. So let's cut it short now."

"Lots of experience?" Cole asked mildly.

"You could say that." She pulled up at HQ and they went back inside. Once there, they began searching through her notebooks to see what they could find out. Cole was the first to find something.

"How is it that they're aliens - or evolved humans, whatever - and yet they can still be killed with stakes like regular vampires?"

"Devolved humans, I'd say, and I don't know why stakes kill them. Though I suppose that's a good thing, as I've got a few of them lying around somewhere in this place."

"Somewhere? You know, being organized is a useful thing." That comment earned him a glare.

"Try two years with a guy who found jelly babies in his pockets that were over a decade old at least," she muttered. "Still, you're right, and I do need to work on that. But right now we've got an alien vamp to kill."

Finding said vampire wasn't as hard as it could have been. Apparently the victim they'd seen was only the latest in a series of victims all concentrated in one neighborhood. "Well, apparent;y this thing's stupid as well as evil," Cole remarked.

"Or reckless," Paula agreed. "Which is why we'll be able to take it out, no problem." Hopefully.

"They can hypnotize, so we'd still better be careful," Cole pointed out. Paula nodded curtly as they got out of the car.

"Of course." It was the last thing she said before she felt a mind brush hers. "Heads up!"

The thing that came out of the shadows was hardly even humanoid, with shriveled bluish skin, suckers on its arms, and overly long fingernails. But its eyes... they were so captivating. Wait, she knew what that was! She managed half a glance at Cole, who was already transfixed, before her own eyes flew back to the thing's. Next thing she knew, the world was gone.

* * *

_"Cole, what are you doing in Boston?"_

_He turned, stunned, to see Phoebe standing a foot or so away from him. "What do you want?" he snapped._

_"I wanted to apologize. Cole, I'm so sorry, please, I should have known, but I was stupid. Please forgive me. Please come home."_

_She walked up to him and stared up at him, her eyes gleaming with tears. Before he knew it, she was in his arms and they were kissing, it was like nothing had ever happened... No. This was an illusion. It wasn't real. He knew that. It was fake, though he longed for it to be true._

He came back to himself in a Boston alley, and the Haemovore was gone. "Damn it!" He glanced at Paula, who was still staring into space, lost in whatever illusion had been conjured for her.

* * *

_"Come on, love, we're going to be late. I know San Francisco's a few hours behind us, but still. Piper said four their time."_

_She turned to him, laughing. "Like you care, Micah. You don't understand Thanksgiving, you said it yourself."_

_"Well, seeing as you Yanks took the Indians' land, why celebrate a dinner with them?"_

_"True. But - oh, forget it, I already tried explaining and you just won't get it."_

_"No, I won't. Oh, are Diana and Con coming by the Manor too?"_

_"Yeah, I think..." Wait. That was wrong. Diana and Con were dead. And Micah was gone. He'd left her alone in a Dublin hotel with nothing but a pathetic note. So what was happening?_

"Paula!" Someone shook her. She blinked and looked into Cole's face. "Oh, shit."

"Exactly. Let's go! Can you track it with your telepathy?"

"Yeah. You distract it with fireballs, I'll stake it."

"Fine." And they ran off after it in the direction Paula's powers indicated. It didn't take long before they caught up, just as it was about to pounce on a lone traveler. "Go!" Cole yelled. The man hurried away, a little slowly - he looked to be drunk or high, so that was understandable - but he wouldn't be a witness to this.

Cole began throwing fireballs. The Haemovore was confused. The fire didn't hurt, not really, but it did make it hard to focus. What was happening?

"Cole, stop!" Paula was about to orb in and stake the thing, but not at the risk of getting incinerated. Cole looked at her, and for a second she saw what looked almost like a gleam of insanity in the blue eyes. Then he blinked and it was gone. He stopped throwing fireballs and she orbed in front of the Haemovore, staking it. It fell, dead, and Cole threw another, larger fireball once she'd moved that incinerated the body.

* * *

She sent Cole home, deciding to write the report herself. Once she was done, she went to the potions room and began working on two recipes. Had she been one of her sisters, she would only have been brewing one, as one was gray magic and technically forbidden. But Paula wasn't about to exchange one problem for another.

After a few hours, she left, going to a bar near HQ. She wasn't surprised to see Cole there, tipping back a glass of whiskey. He wasn't drunk yet, she noted, but he was headed there. "Hey," she said, sliding onto the stool next to his and ordering a kahlua and cream. "That doesn't help."

"And how would you know?"

"Tried it. Not only did it hurt my control over my powers, but once it was over, I felt like shit both physically and emotionally."

"Oh. What, was it the guy in the photo?"

"Yeah. Micah."

"What happened?"

"He walked out on me. That was nearly a year ago."

Cole considered, then asked the question he really wanted to know. "Does it get easier?"

"Depends on your definition. It doesn't go away. It just... gets distant."

"That's something."

"I guess it is. So, ready to go?"

"Sure. Why not?"

A/N: OK, this was mostly transitional, and I'm aware I took liberties with the Haemovore's powers. Next chapter, a Whitelighter, a baby-napping demon, and the Avatars.


	3. Paternal Instinct

Disclaimer: Not mine, barring OCs.

_**Chapter 3 - Paternal Instinct:**_ "Remind me again why eating Chinese food makes us official?" Cole commented after swallowing a bite of General Tso's chicken.

Paula glanced up from her lo mein and grinned. "Well, you know. Cops and takeout."

"We're not cops."

"No, but we're the acting cops of weird."

"True. Though - " Whatever Cole had been about to say was cut off by the cascade of orb-lights that suddenly materialized. They dissipated to reveal a fairly tall man with steel gray hair and hazel eyes. Cole let out the breath he'd been holding, relieved that the newcomer wasn't anyone he knew.

"Sam!" Paula sounded shocked. Wasn't Sam the name of Patty Halliwell's Whitelighter?" "I thought the you reclipped your wings when the Elders wouldn't let you stay with Patty," she continued, inadvertently answering Cole's unspoken question.

"Yes," Sam replied, "but I've had a change of heart, thanks to your sister."

"Paige," Paula said flatly.

"Yes. And I wish you would -"

"Don't, Sam," Paula cut him off, her voice sharp. Then, looking over at Cole, she said, "Cole, this is Sam Wilder, my biological father. Sam, this is Cole Turner, my new partner." The two men shook hands, Cole choosing to ignore the clear shock in the Whitelighter's expression.

"I'll leave you two to chat," he said, snagging his chicken before fading out. Sam turned to Paula.

"Do you know who - ?"

"Yes, and I know what I'm doing. So, what brings you here?"

"Can't a man visit his daughter?"

"Yes, but it's not like you to show up unannounced. What's going on, Sam?" The Whitelightet sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"The Elders have given me some of my old charges back. One of them, Edward, has a little boy named Kyle. He's been kidnapped."

"Did he contact the police?"

"The kidnapper is a demon. Lilith." Paula frowned, remembering the things she'd read about Lilith over the years. There were the myths, of course; everything from the tale of how she'd been Adam's first wife, cast aside for refusing to let Adam be on top during sex to the thoery that she was the Devil's consort or the first vampire. In truth, though, it was the idea that Lilith attacked children that was the closest to the truth. She was a powerful demon who stole magical children, turning them to evil.

"You want me to help." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Sam admitted. "I wouldn't ask, but Ted isn't that powerful. I'm afraid that if he goes after Lilith, he'll just get himself killed, and Kyle will be lost forever."

"OK. We'll handle it."

"'We'?"

"Cole and I. He _is_ my partner, after all."

"I don't think Ted wants a demon's help."

"Well, if he wants my help, he'll have to deal with it."

* * *

Back at his apartment, Cole put the rest of his chicken in the refrigerator and looked for something to do. Finding nothing, he resorted to flipping through the TV channels.

He was watching a movie - something about child-sized people and an enchanted ring - when something caught his eye. He leapt to his feet as a tall man materialized in front of him. "Who the hell are you?"

The black-clad man offered an enigmatic smile. "I am Alpha."

Cole's eyes narrowed. "Let me rephrase that. _What _the hell are you?"

"Ah. I am an Avatar."

"Right. And an Avatar is what, exactly? And why are you here?"

"Avatars are a neutral force looking to end the useless fight between good and evil. As for my presence here... I have come to recruit you, to make you one of us."

Cole leaned against the wall, arms folded and one eyebrow raised. "Really," he said sardonically. "And why would you be interested in me?"

"You are one of the most powerfully magical beings in this world and one of the few without clear ties to either side. As one of us, you would strengthen our Collective enormously."

"Hmm. Give me a reason to be interested."

"With the power you would gain, you could do almost anything - even change the past."

The idea was tempting, Cole wouldn't deny that. But he worked with a time traveler, and he'd asked about that idea, trying to change the past, so he knew better than to think it was really a smart move. "And risk ripping the universe apart? No thanks."

"You could rescue your son's soul."

Cole stiffened. "_What_?"

"You didn't know? Oh dear. I suggest you ask your ex-wife. Or her sister, your new friend." And with that he disappeared. Cole stared at the empty space for a moment before fading out. It was time for some answers.

* * *

Paula was looking through a book - not a notebook this time, but one of the arcane texts Con had left her - for information on Lilith when Cole faded in. "Hey, do you know anything about Lil-?" She stopped when she saw the look on his face, and then asked instead, "What's wrong?"

"Do you know what happened to my son?" he asked without preamble.

"I... What?" In short, clipped sentences, he told her about the Avatar's visit.

"So?" he demanded.

"God, Cole," she whispered, not wanting to meet his eyes. "I thought you knew."

"Knew _what_? Damn it, Paula, what happened? This is my _son_ we're talking about!"

"I know." And she told him of the Seer's actions, and the Charmed Ones' response. "No one knew the baby had a human soul - except maybe the Seer, and I doubt it. If this Alpha's telling you the truth, Cole... the baby's soul is probably in Limbo, if not the Wasteland. And I have to say, I'm not sure he_ is_ telling you the truth. I don't like the sound of these guys."

"Ever heard of them?" Cole asked, dropping into a chair across from Paula's own seat.

"No, and I haven't heard the term 'Collective' with regards to them, either, but I don't like the implications. Do you?"

"Not particularly," he admitted. _But it's my son..._ He knew what he was going to do, even if he didn't like it much. Shaking the thoughts away, he asked, "So what was it you wanted to ask me earlier?"

"Oh. Do you know anything about Lilith?"

"Demon who turns magical kids evil. About maybe 3,000 years, old, wears a lot of black. Why?"

"Sam wants us to take her on. Apparently she took the son of one of his charges. So, any clue on a vanquish? Because as of now, I can't find much."

"Uh, you can probably write a spell for it. I'd add a potion though; double attack."

"Right. I'm guessing you're pulling out of this one then?"

"What?"

"You're going to join them."

"Just to save my son. Then... do you have a power-stripping potion?"

"Sorry?"

"As you said, these Avatars don't sound too trustworthy. So I'll take their power, save my son, then lose the power so they won't have a hold on me. You won't fire me for being powerless, will you?"

"Of course not."

"Good. So I'll see you later then." And he faded out.

She stood and walked to one of the cabinets that lined the walls, pulling out two potion vials. One potion was magenta, the other crimson. It was the second one she studied, eyes glinting. "I wouldn't fire you, but who says you need to be powerless?"

* * *

"Alpha!" Cole called, hoping the Avatar was listening.

He was. Alpha materialized, looking smug. Cole wished he could wipe that look from the Avatar's face, but knew he couldn't. "I'm ready to take you up on that offer," he said.

"Very good." There was nothing for a moment and then Cole felt power suffusing his body. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

"Now you are one of us. Come. It is time to join the others."

"No," Cole disagreed. "Now it's time for me to find my son. See you around." And with that, he dematerialized.

* * *

"So, how old is Kyle, Mr. Sands?" Paula asked.

"Please, call me Ted, and he's 5. Sam says you're his daughter, Ms. Ravenwood, but I don't..."

"Long story, and it's Paula. Do you know why she took Kyle?"

"I'm not that strong, but my wife, Felicia, she was... amazing in every way, and also a much stronger witch. Kyle takes after her."

"You lost her."

"Yes. Not even to a demon but just a stupid car acci- . I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Uh, do you have any idea how to find my son?"

"I have a plan," she said more or less honestly. She had one plan, but if it backfired, chances were high that Kyle would be lost forever - and she'd get herself killed. It was ironic, really, after so much time on her own, how quickly she'd grown used to having Cole fighting with her. But he had another little boy to save, one who was just as innocent as Kyle Sands. She was on her own.

When she got back to HQ, she got her supplies ready. "One power-stripping potion, one vanquishing spell, and one summoning spell. This had better work." She took a deep breath before reciting the spell.

"_Magic forces black and white,_

_Reaching out through space and light_

_Be she far or be she near_

_Bring me the demoness Lilith here."_

* * *

He went back in time, invisible, to know where to start. He watched the Seer take the baby and use his power on the Charmed Ones, and he saw them deflect the attack. Grudgingly, he had to concede that they'd done the only thing possible under the circumstances. When it was over, he left as invisibly as he'd come, so as to avoid detection. As amusing as the results might be if the Halliwells did notice him, he didn't want his boss to dock his pay when she learned he'd risked ripping the universe apart.

He'd hoped that he could track the baby's spirit from the point of death, but it hadn't quite worked. Still, he'd gotten a read on the baby's aura, which was enough to be going on with.

Cole didn't know how long it took him, jumping from realm to realm in search of his son's soul. But he finally found him in one of the levels of Limbo. This particular area of it took him to the Halliwell manor, in a nursery. One baby - real and alive - slept in a crib under a blue blanket with an embroidered triquetra. Apparently Piper's baby had been a boy. The other baby was sitting on the crib's railing looking down at the younger one. He was older, with a thick head of dark hair contrasting with the other baby's blond fuzz, but he also had a translucent look to him. It was that baby who looked at Cole with eyes the image of his own, and that baby who reached out to him.

Cole picked his son up, wishing there was more he could do. As he moved away from the crib, the other baby woke, apparently sensing his cousin's departure, and began to cry. Just in case he turned out to be visible, Cole left in a hurry, before someone could catch him here.

Unwillingly, he returned to his own plane of existence. Slowly, the small form in his arms faded away until all that was left was a glowing white ball that danced around him before rising into the sky. As he watched it go, he thought he heard a baby's laugh. When it was gone, he willed himself away.

* * *

The tall woman wore a tight, ankle length black dress and had long, rippling black hair. She gave Paula a haughty look. "How dare you, witch?" she demanded. Her hand rose as she conjured an energy ball. Paula threw the potion. Lilith screamed, falling to her knees as her power was taken from her, and her strength with it. But her head snapped up of its own accord, black eyes locking on gold as Paula drew the information she needed from the demoness' mind. Once she had it, she read the second spell.

_"I call to all who hold the power_

_Unto me your help endower._

_To vanquish this demon, child-thief_

_To no more families shall she bring grief!"_

Lilith blew up, and someone applauded behind her. Paula turned as Cole said, "Very impressive." She smiled slightly.

"Thanks, So what's with the costume?" she asked, gesturing to the high-necked black robe he wore. He shrugged.

"Came with the power boost, apparently. Did you get the boy?"

"I know where he is, and I'm about to go get him. And you?"

"Yeah." He said nothing else, and she didn't press. She understood that some things hurt too much to discuss.

"So I'd better go," was all she said before orbing out.

* * *

The cave was damp and dark, the only light coming from a single torch. "Hello? Kyle?" Paula called.

"Hello?" a voice replied. A little boy with tousled blond hair, redrimmed green eyes, and dirty clothes crept from the shadows into the flickering light. "Who are you?"

"My name's Paula, I'm a friend of Sam's. Do you know Sam?"

"Yes."

"He sent me to find you. I'm here to take you home."

"The demon - "

"She's dead." Paula knelt to his level and held out a hand. "Come on." A small hand slipped into her own and she orbed them away.

Ted's face was almost unbelievably happy as he hugged his son, and for a moment, she was almost jealous of the little boy for having someone care that much. She shook that idea away, though. It was ridiculous.

"Thank you so much," Ted said, his voice unsteady.

"Anytime. And I checked, she hadn't started turning him yet, so there shouldn't be any problems." With that she left, suddenly anxious to leave the reunited family behind.

* * *

When she got back, Cole and Sam were in the library, eyeing each other warily. "Oh, for God's sake," she snapped irritably. "What is your problem anyway? Never mind, I know already, Whitelighter, ex-demon, it's textbook."

Sam cleared his throat. "Did you get Kyle home?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Thanks. Really."

"Don't mention it. So, are you... staying in town?"

"No, I have to go. I guess I'll see you around."

"Sure." She waved carelessly as he left. "Well," she said, turning to Cole, "I guess you want that potion?"

"Want it? No. But I need it. So I guess you'd better give it to me." He shrugged. "You know, get it over with."

She took the potion from the table and handed it to him. "You might want to sit down first. This thing takes your energy too, you know."

"Yeah, I know. Third time out. Cheers." He sat down and drained the vial in one go. She watched his face turn gray and heard glass shatter as the vial slipped from his fingers.

"Cole, are you OK?"

Silence was all she got for a minute, and then he managed to say, "That was worse than before."

"Probably because you had more power than before," she commented. Then she picked up the other vial and offered it to him.

"What's that?"

"Just take it. Trust me, you'll feel better." He gave her a suspicious look, but took it anyway. Almost immediately he did feel better. He sat up straighter and looked at her sharply.

"What was that?"

Paula grinned, leaning against the table. "Try to conjure an energy ball." The look he gave her said clearly that he thought she was crazy, but he did what she asked. To his shock, it worked.

"What did you do?"

"That potion returns stripped powers that are genetically tied to the drinker."

"So I'm Belthazor again?"

"Not exactly. You have the powers, but without the troublesome demonic consciousness. Should keep you off the radar of whoever manages to get control down there and also help avoid the conflicts you had to deal with before."

"When did you make this?"

"I started both right after the Haemovore incident. When we were fighting the Haemovore, it looked like using your powers was affecting your mind. But leaving you powerless would eventually do the same."

Cole thought of how easily angered he'd been during his brief stint as a mortal, and how, recently, the powers he'd acquired seemed to be slipping from his control. "How'd you work that out?"

"Research. I'm not a demon expert, but I know a lot about magic. Power you're not supposed to have drives you crazy. And it's documented that stripping a demon's power often kills them or drives them crazy. You're still half-demon genetically, and I thought haing no powers might cause a problem."

"Been there. And it did. But I didn't know there was a potion to reverse power-stripping."

"You've been spending too much time with white witches. Welcome to the world of gray magic."

"Yeah. Thanks. I really didn't want to be a mortal again. But, uh, I think I'm going to go."

"That's fine. So, see you tomorrow?"

"Of course." And he left. Just then her cell rang. She pulled it out and grinned when she saw the caller ID.

"Hi there, Caleb. So, did your dad mention the offer I have for you?"

* * *

He was flipping through channels again, but couldn't have said what was on. He was glad he'd saved his son's soul, but... _It wasn't right! _None of this was supposed to happen. If he'd never taken in the Hollow... but then the Source would have destroyed the universe. There hadn't really been a choice, he admitted to himself.

Had it all been inevitable from there? Maybe. But if he was being honest with himself, things were not nearly as bad as they could be. His son's soul would be reborn, Phoebe was getting on with her life, and he... was getting on with his. He had _his_ powers back -and it wasn't until he had them again that he realized how much he'd missed them. He had a purpose, and even a friend, which was a new experience for him. No, things weren't ideal, but they were OK. He could live with that.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. Next up, high school reunions... with some unforeseen complications.


	4. Those High School Days

_**Chapter 4 - Those High School Days:**_ "Thank you for your powers," the man said as he pulled the athame from the woman's body. God, he loved the rush of power; a more potent high by far than that of the drugs mortals took. And, of course, far more addictive. He was as much a junkie for the power as any drug addict. And some small part of him regretted that.

It hadn't always been this way. Once, before magic was an addiction, it had been fun. It had brought him friends, three great friends. But they had abandoned him. One forsook the magic that had always scared her, retreating into the mundane world of mortals. Another had followed his family's wish that he walk in both worlds. The third had left in a storm of fury, her mind bent on revenge for all she'd lost. But he no longer needed them. He had loved them, one more than the others, but that was past. Power was his only friend, his lover and all he would ever need from life. But he wanted vengeance. It would be the powers of his false friends he took next.

* * *

When Cole came in the next morning, he was surprised to find Paula wasn't alone. Her companion was a tall blond man with mischievous hazel eyes who grinned when he saw Cole. "Cole Turner, right?" he asked, holding out his hand. "Caleb Carnahan."

"Caleb's an old friend from Magic School and his uncle works for UNIT," Paula explained.

"You're going to need that bigger car soon," Cole commented. He shook Caleb's hand and said, "Nice to meet you."

"Now we're all here," Paula said, "I think we've got a case. Someone's killing witches, and I'd guess it's a warlock or black witch. I've got some crime scene photos, and it looks like a power-stealing kill." She reached into a folder and took out the photos of a brunette in her mid-40s with a rune carved into her forehead.

"Black witch," Cole said immediately. "Warlocks don't need the ritual to steal powers; it's part of their power."

"Damn," Caleb said, whistling. Then, to Paula, "He's good."

"Hmm," the redhead replied, studying another photo. "OK, so, black witch. The question is, how do we track him?"

"Check for imprints at the crime scene?" Caleb suggested. Cole frowned. Imprints? He was even more confused by Paula's reaction. She looked down at her hands, biting her lip and looking painfully uncomfortable.

"I guess we'll have to," she said reluctantly.

"OK, what are you two talking about?" Cole cut in, exasperated.

"My other power," Paula said after a pause. "I'm a tactile psionic. I pick up psychic imprints from the things I touch, and when I touch people, I go so deep in their minds I can't get out. Hence the gloves."

"Didn't you wonder why she had them?" Caleb asked.

"Not really," Cole admitted. "I figured I'd find out eventually, and I was right, wasn't I?"

* * *

Paula orbed with Caleb into the dead woman's apartment, Cole shimmering in a second later. Paula walked over to the chalk outline of the body drawn on the floor. Pulling off a glove, she touched the space inside the lines with a fingertip, hoping the lessened contact would weaken the strength of her readings. It didn't, of course. She knew it wouldn't - she'd tried it before - but she couldn't help it.

The woman's name was Julia Easton. She was 43 and had a 12-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter at Magic School. She was a widow. Which meant her kids were now orphans, the part of Paula's mind that was still her realized.

She'd seen her attacker head-on. The eyes were black as he chanted some spell in what Paula knew to be Latin, but as he raised the athame... Julia's last second in perfect clarity: her killer's face, strands of brown hair falling into steel-gray eyes, a voice with a Southern drawl as he said "Good night," and a grin that may have once been endearing but was now sickening.

Paula pulled her hand back on a choked cry. "Oh God. Oh God." It wasn't the vision that filled her with horror. She'd seen far worse, both in visions and reality. It was the killer's identity that was so hard to take, the face that she knew would haunt her for years to come.

"Caleb... It's Ryan."

* * *

"Ryan Hadley went to Magic School with us, the summer program," Paula explained when they got back. "He, Caleb and I were part of this sort of... mini-clique there."

"And Gwyn, don't forget her," Caleb said in a deadened voice.

"She wants to be forgotten," Paula said, remembering her dark-haired friend with the lilting accent, whose last magical act had been the brewing of a potion that let her leave their world forever.

"I'm not sure I understand," Cole said, frowning. "So this guy, the one who's killing people, is a good witch? Or rather, a good witch gone bad? A Magic School trained witch? What happened?"

"I don't know," Paula replied, shaking her head. "I left after Diana died, and then... well, I can't say what happened after that."

"I decided to go into the Marines, so I left," Caleb said. "Gwyn had already gone, and we left Ryan alone. He must've gone crazy after I last saw him. I know when I left he was... getting more and more into magic. It wasn't like you," he said, looking at Paula, "always studying the origins of magic, learning the nature of it. He wanted more power, he wanted to be the strongest witch alive."

"God," Paula said, understanding. "And he became addicted." Hadn't she come close to addiction, to being hooked on the power she had? Hadn't she loved the power trip she got from killing those demons with no more than a thought? Yes. So she understood what must have happened to her old friend. Which didn't mean she condoned it. But vanquishing one of her best friends was a challenge she hadn't anticipated.

"What now?" Caleb asked.

"We have to stop him," Cole said as if it were simple. For him it was. He didn't know Ryan. He couldn't remember the boy with the sparkling gray eyes and the grin that made half the girls in the school melt. He had never seen the intense young witch who always wanted to know more, to try everything, to dare to do the spells that the teachers said he couldn't handle yet. He didn't know, couldn't know what this felt like. To have seen her old friend coldly killing a woman, to _be_ that woman, if only for a second... This was why she hardly ever discussed her second power; people didn't understand what it meant, really meant. And she knew she wouldn't sleep tonight.

"Maybe we could just strip his powers?" Caleb said hopefully. Paula and Cole just looked at him, and he sighed. He was a soldier, after all, he knew he was deluding himself. "No, I didn't think so," he muttered, dropping his gaze. "So, what, we just shoot him, is that it? 'Cause I've got a Glock on me, if that's what you two want."

"You're making it sound like an execution," Cole commented.

"Isn't it?" Caleb shot back.

"No, it's not, exactly," Paula said. "It's a vanquish."

"With a gun," Caleb said flatly.

"You're the one who suggested a gun," Cole pointed out.

"And what would you suggest? A well-aimed energy ball, demon-boy?"

"Whoa, OK, that's it!" Paula snapped, jumping between the two men. Cole's eyes had flashed, but he'd restrained himself, probably realizing that Caleb wasn't sincere, just angry and upset. "OK, stop it, both of you. Cole, you're right and we both know it. Ryan... we have to stop him. Caleb, don't take out your feelings on the rest of us. I hate this too, understand?"

He glared at her for a moment, before closing his eyes and turning away from the other two. "You don't get it, Red," he said, using the old nickname for her. "I was the last one to leave, I saw that he was getting obsessed. I should have done something!"

"You couldn't have known what would happen, Cal," she said, also reverting to an old nickname. "None of us could. Back then... if anyone was going to go round the twist, people would've expected it to be me. Remember?" She certainly did, the fury that had made her not care what she did to who, how she'd gone down to the Underworld killing every demon that crossed her path, until she killed the one who'd taken the only mother she'd ever known - until she'd killed an upper-level demon with an active power. That was when the Source's messenger had made her an offer, and part of her had wanted to take it. But she hadn't, because... No, she couldn't think about that now.

Cole wanted to ask what had happened - why would Paula have been the one they expected to go crazy? - but didn't think now was the time to ask. Neither witch seemed particularly forthcoming right now, not that he blamed them. This situation was a painful one for them, that much was clear. But there was something he wasn't sure they'd considered yet. "Could he be trying to draw you two out? Maybe he's after you, for revenge. You said you left him, sort of. And if that's the case, maybe you should be telling this Gwyn to watch out as well."

"If he can find her, it's more than I've managed," Paula said harshly. "Besides, she doesn't have anything to take. She bound her powers years ago." She didn't want to think about Gwyn, not when Ryan was the problem. Dealing with one friend's betrayal was enough.

Standing abruptly, she walked out of the office, going out to her car and leaning against it. She needed some air. Why did it have to be Ryan? And what the hell had happened to the teenage boy she'd known to make him evil? How had the careless flirt become a cold-hearted killer?

She was so lost in thought that she didn't even sense anyone's approach. She didn't know she had a watcher until he threw a potion at her. The bottle exploded at her feet, purple smoke enveloping her. Paula recognized the potion, but it was too late to do anything about it.

Ryan stepped forward, picking up the unconscious redhead. His revenge was starting, and he could already taste its sweetness.

* * *

"She should've been back by now," Caleb said, frowning. Cole glanced at him.

"You know her better than I do," he replied. They went to see where she was, and saw nothing but a broken glass bottle near her car. Caleb picked up a shard and frowned at the sight of purple liquid staining his fingers. "Oh shit," he said.

"What's that?" Cole asked, coming over for a closer look.

"Basically magical chloroform."

"Great."

"My thoughts exactly."

* * *

When Paula came to, she was chained to a wall. "What the hell?"

"Hello, Paula."

She turned her head and saw him. "Ryan."

"Been a while, hasn't it? And look what's happened. You're playing a female Sam Spade, and I'm the most powerful black witch alive."

"And you're proud of that?" she spat, glaring at him.

"Why not? I've worked for it."

"Killed for it, you mean."

"Of course. But that's the easy bit. I had to study and train too, Red." The nickname from his lips was like a slap.

"Don't call me that."

"Why not?"

"You're acting like my friend, and you're not. Not anymore."

"Oh, I know that. After all, you left me. You know, what I don't understand is why you're not a black witch yourself. We all thought you'd go that way, you know."

"I saw the price of evil, and decided I didn't want to pay it."

"Price? What price? I've paid nothing!"

"Haven't you?" Gold eyes locked on gray, and it was the gray ones that shifted away. He couldn't hold her gaze, and he resented that. He was in charge here, she was tied up, and he still couldn't look her in the eye. Because some part of him knew she was right.

* * *

"OK, so if this Ryan took her, where would he take her?" Cole pressed, for the fifth time.

"I don't know!" Caleb snapped, throwing up his hands. "I haven't seen Ryan in years, and he's insane. How should I know?"

"Because you have to! Because if you don't, your friend is going to die!" Cole exploded, losing his patience. Caleb gave him a sharp look.

"You like her, don't you?"

"She's my friend. Of course I like her. And this isn't important right now."

"That's not what I meant. I think she likes you too, just so you know. But you're right." Caleb sighed, closing his eyes. "I don't know where he'd take her, but I can scry for them."

He got out a map of the city and a scrying crystal. Then he tied the crystal's string to one of Paula's athames and got to work. The crystal circled but did not land. Caleb focused harder. Scrying was not his best skill, but he could do this. If that annoying movement at the corners of his vision didn't distract him.

"Could you stop that pacing? It's driving me crazy!"

Cole paused in his movements, glancing over at the irritated blond. "Sure." He leaned against the wall. "By the way, the crystal just landed."

Caleb looked down. "Great. Can you shimmer us over?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"Not that I'm not grateful for the rescue attempt, but does the word 'bait' mean anything to you?" Paula asked dryly twenty minutes later. Caleb and Cole glared at her.

"I didn't think he was that good," Caleb admitted ruefully.

When he and Cole had arrived, they'd immediately been hit with a dose of the same purple potion Ryan had used on Paula. They'd woken up later to find themselves chained to the wall next to Paula. Ryan was nowhere to be seen, but the altar with its implements of dark magic was worrying.

When he came back in, Caleb couldn't keep his mouth shut. "What the hell are you playing at, Ryan?"

"Caleb, Caleb, Caleb. You never did learn to control that temper, did you? I guess not. Pity," Ryan mocked, his voice cold. "I'm not playing at anything, for your information. I'm very serious about what I'm doing."

"And that is?" Cole cut in.

"Taking your powers," Ryan said simply.

"All at once? You can't do that," Paula said, alarmed not only because of the threat but because that should be impossible.

"Watch me." Ryan walked up to each of them, cutting them and letting their blood fall into a black chalice he held. Then he took the chalice back to the altar, chanting over it in Latin. He poured some sort of potion into the chalice and it fizzed and smoked. Smiling cruelly, he lifted it to his lips and drank.

Paula gasped at the sudden pull of Ryan's magic, a gasp echoed by Cole and Caleb on either side of her. God, it hurt! Her vision doubled and went blurry, her tongue bled as she bit it to keep from screaming. Damn it, she wouldn't give him that!

But someone was screaming. It took her a second to realize that it was Ryan, his eyes burning red now. He screamed and kept screaming, and Paula noticed that the pain was lessening, that her strength was returning somewhat. She watched, feeling an odd detachment as her earlier statement was proven true - he couldn't handle the power he'd tried to take in.

The red glow spread from his eyes until his whole body shone a searing red. And then, with one final scream, he was gone. No body, no ashes, just a scorch mark on the floor. And the chains rattled, the enchantments on them gone with the death of their maker. Which meant she could orb out, and Cole could shimmer. A quick spell had Caleb free as well, and a few well-aimed energy balls from Cole destroyed what was left of Ryan's tools. They left after that; there was nothing else to do.

* * *

The sky was red at sunset. Paula leaned against the railing on the small bridge, set over a decorative brook in a park. She watched the crimson sky, trying not to think. But she couldn't help it. She never had been able to help it.

Ryan was part of her thoughts. The boy she remembered, the man he'd become. And so was Gwyn, that childhood companion, the girl who'd taught her what having a best friend meant, who had walked away from all they'd shared. Paula had never forgiven her. How could she forgive that? But how could she not? More than anything, Paula advocated taking your own path in life, doing what you felt was right and letting rules, destiny, and everything else go hang. Gwyn had made her choice, it was what she wanted. Paula had done no more and no less. And... so had Ryan. In the end, good or evil, they had all done exactly as they wanted. And, she supposed, in the end they would all pay, as Ryan had.

There was something else on her mind, though, something she didn't really want to acknowledge. But it was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Caleb, she suspected, had already noticed, and he'd only been around a day. But then, he knew her too well. Which was both a blessing and a curse.

"You OK?" She turned when she heard Cole's voice. She really had been preoccupied, as she hadn't sensed him coming.

"Yeah," she said, drumming up a smile. He didn't look convinced.

"It's all right to not be, you know. You lost a friend today."

She shook her head. "I lost him a long time ago. And that was at least partially my doing."

"You're not to blame for what happened," he disagreed.

"I didn't say I was. I just said that it wasn't just Ryan who left our... our circle, I guess you could call it. Or our coven, whatever."

"It sounded like you all did, in your own ways."

"Yeah, I guess we did." She smiled sadly. "It was all so simple. A, a charmed circle. Not Charmed, with a capital 'C', just... We had a grace period, somehow. Four very different people, four very different backgrounds. The only thing we had in common was magic. But that was enough, for a while. And then it wasn't."

"Sometimes there can be more than that and it isn't enough." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up. You can't see the future, you didn't know what was going to happen."

"No, but I can see people, I can see into them, in a way. But, I guess you're right, really." They lapsed into a companionable silence, one that Cole didn't want to break - it was an unusually peaceful moment for him, after all - but he had to.

"Caleb seems to think I've got a thing for you."

The comment was random, and yet Paula wasn't surprised. "Does he?" she asked mildly.

"Yeah. He also seems to think you might have a thing for me."

"Fascinating."

"I guess you were right about that assumptions thing," he pressed, not entirely sure what it was he wanted to hear, but knowing that her responses thus far were leaving him frustrated.

"Maybe," she murmured, not looking at him. Cole frowned, and then walked away, not wanting to deal with this right now.

Paula continued to watch the sunset. Apparently Caleb hadn't lost the habit of being irritatingly forthright. And, unfortunately, she thought, he wasn't exactly off the mark. But then, he usually wasn't. She wasn't entirely sure what, if anything, she was going to do about it, but she imagined she'd know soon enough. This kind of thing had a tendency to play out, one way or another.

A/N: OK, I can hear the Phoebe/Cole diehards sharpening their knives. I said this was eventually a Ph/C and I meant it. I did not, however, say that Cole was going to pine for Phoebe throughout the story. Next chapter: Alien meddling leads to an unusual way of facing the new team dynamics.


	5. Identity Crisis

_**Chapter 5 - Identity Crisis:**_ Caleb looked helplessly at the two people in front of him. Had Paula known this was going to happen, he doubted she'd have been so gung-ho to take on the latest case that had come their way. Though he himself was glad he'd stood his ground and not gone undercover. Oh, yeah, definitely very glad.

* * *

24 Hours Earlier

"So what exactly is so suspicious about a successful marriage counseling program?" Cole asked Paula skeptically.

"They're not just successful, they've got a 100 percent success rate. That just doesn't happen."

Cole sighed. "OK, fine. So are we talking demons or aliens?"

"Probably alien, but we'd best be prepared for something magical."

"'We'?"

"Yeah. We're going undercover."

"What, as a married couple?"

"Yeah. Benjamin and Astrid Rivers."

"No way. No offense or anything, but no."

"It has to be you."

"Why not Caleb? He knows you better."

"Caleb can't act to save his life. He can't even tell a decent lie."

"Very true," the man in question admitted, coming into the main room, a grin on his face. "I used to get us in trouble all the time at school, till I learned to shut my mouth and let Paula do the talking."

"You never learned it. You just got sick of limping." To Cole, she added, "Gwyn used to step on his foot to shut him up."

"Whatever," said Caleb easily. "Anyway, the point is that for now, you two are married."

"Right," Cole said uncomfortably. He glanced over at Paula, who seemed unconcerned as she checked over their fake IDs. But then she would be; it was her idea. Great. Just great.

* * *

"Relax, _Ben_," Paula teased as they pulled into the parking lot of Briarwood Counseling.

"Shut up, _Astrid_," Cole said. She just laughed at him. Which didn't improve his mood any.

"Well, that hostility you're projecting certainly makes us seem like we need counseling," she commented mildly. "I guess it's a nice touch."

"Paula, why is it you seem to find this so damned funny?"

"Because it is. Lighten up, Turner." She smiled at him. "Cole, honestly, relax."

How could he explain that he couldn't? He was wearing a wedding ring again, for the first time in months. It was silver, unlike the gold one he'd once worn, but still. The feel of it was the same. And pretending to be married to Paula... There were times he knew she was a Halliwell, a certain gesture or reaction that all four of the other Halliwells he'd known had shared, but that wasn't what the real problem was.

The woman was getting to him. He couldn't explain it. Once he'd thought he'd be blind to anyone but Phoebe, but lately he'd been thinking about a gold-eyed witch rather than a brown-eyed one. He just wasn't sure exactly how to handle the situation. He didn't exactly have a good history with this sort of thing.

Behind her casual teasing, Paula wasn't nearly as much at ease as she appeared. Because she too was dealing with a rather unwise attraction. There was the whole skating-on-the-edge-of-incest feel to it, but it was more than that. She hadn't really had any interest in men since Micah had walked out - except for those handful of rebound one-nighters when she'd been trying to drink away her pain - and this wasn't something she'd wanted. But she couldn't seem to help herself.

Somehow she had to get herself back under control. Having an affair with a coworker was a very bad idea. She'd broken so many rules, so many taboos, but she'd managed to avoid this one. Technically, Micah hadn't been a coworker. She'd never been on Torchwood's payroll. Though she supposed the one-night stand with River could be considered sleeping with a coworker...

Paula shook the thoughts away as she and Cole approached the entrance. They were undercover, which meant it was time to concentrate on business. Though in this case business was a little too aligned with personal issues for her comfort.

The process of getting a spot in the clinic was tedious, but basic. They filled out long questionnaires, asking everything from medical history to sex life. _Well, we didn't plan for this one_, Paula's voice echoed in his head.

Cole tried not to jump. _Damn it, Paula!_

_Sorry. So, no sex life? That'll help explain the tedium, and it's not even a lie. Unless you've been spending your salary on hookers, which I don't advise, by the way. You're human now, you can catch things._

_Funny. And no sex life is fine._

_Are you sure you're male?_

_Do you want to check?_ Maybe he shouldn't have said that. However, it achieved his aim - namely to get her out of his head. In fact, she didn't even look at him after that.

When they were called in to see the doctor in charge, a Dr. Rowlands. He took a look at their questionnaires, his eyebrows shooting up at a certain point. "Hmm. Yes, I can see the problem. Well, we can fit you in. In fact, a space just opened up in our residence facility."

"Uh, sorry, residence?" Paula asked, not having to fake her sudden alarm.

"Yes, Mrs. Rivers. I think we need to get started on the two of you right away," he said. She didn't like the excitement that flashed briefly through his eyes.

"Look, I really don't think -"

"Mr. Rivers, you agreed to whatever I felt was best for the health of your marriage. Trust me, this will be very beneficial."

"That's fine, Doctor. We just need to go home and pack," Paula said quickly. "Come on, Ben, let's go."

* * *

"'We just need to go home and pack'? Paula, are you crazy?" Cole yelled once they were in the car.

"No. We need to get inside, remember? Look, I don't like it much either, but do you see another option here?"

"Yeah, we forget about this. They're a damn counseling group, Paula, even if they're not natural they're helping people with it."

"And if their idea of helping is some kind of mind control? If that's what they're doing, Cole, their patients are not giving consent. That makes it mind-rape. Do you understand what that is?"

"Yeah, I do."

"No, I don't think you do. I do. I know all about what mind-rape is. I can do it, hell, I _have_ done it a time or two. If they're doing that, Cole, I'm shutting them down."

He stared at her. She was gripping the steering wheel so tight that he was willing to bet her knuckles were white under the black gloves. The expression on what he could see of her face was similar to one he had himself; the expression he wore whenever he thought about his actions as a demon. "Paula..."

"No, Cole. I don't want to talk about it."

"All right, fine. So, how long should we pack for?"

They'd reached a stop light, so it was perfectly safe for her to turn her head and give him full eye contact. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. He got it, and that meant something. More that that, he was willing to do something he wasn't happy about to stop whatever was happening at Briarwood. That meant a lot more.

* * *

After they packed and returned to the clinic, they were taken to the residence facility in a clinic-owned van. An aide directed them to a room and left them there alone. Paula glanced around, taking in her surroundings. The room looked like a nice hotel room, with two nightstands, a bureau, and a bed. Bed, as in singular. _Uh-oh. _

"This is awkward," Cole said.

"A little bit, yeah. But we're civilized adults, so it's not like we can't handle it," Paula said lightly.

"Do you snore?" Cole said with a grin.

She laughed. Yeah, they could handle this. "No, I don't. Gwyn would've said; we roomed together during the summers. Do you?"

"No."

"Good. What about kicking?"

"No. You?"

"No."

"Well, we're all right then."

* * *

They had dinner in a nice dining room with other couples. Some, like them, were tense - though in their cases it was from true relationship issues - while others were almost nauseatingly loving. A few were in between the extremes, but only a very few.

It was a relief to get back to their room - except, Cole thought, for the fact that it was _their_ room. That made it extremely uncomfortable. Paula seemed to be as uneasy as he was, which only made it worse. He tried to think of something to talk about, hoping to distract them both.

"So, have you ever gone undercover before?" he asked, curious.

"A few times," she replied, then smiled. "The first time, I was working with an NCIS – Naval Criminal Investigative Service - agent. See, back then, I actually worked for DESI on an official basis, and I was on an undercover joint op."

"Sounds interesting. So, was it fun?"

"Ir was… a learning experience. I was in New Orleans, with an agent named Jennifer Shepard. I hear she's the director now." Paula smiled. "I'm not surprised. She was good. I picked up a lot."

"You liked her."

"Yeah, we got on pretty well. She's another redhead."

"And you didn't kill each other?"

"Well, we argued a lot, but we were friends. I haven't heard from her in a long time, though. Maybe I should look her up."

"Maybe you should. Once we're done with this undercover mission."

Paula chuckled. "Yeah, I think I will."

* * *

When it was time to get ready for bed, Paula went into the bathroom to change and Cole changed in the bedroom. Usually he just wore a pair of sweatpants to bed, but he added a worn T-shirt tonight. Somehow, he didn't think going shirtless was a good idea.

Paula stepped out of the bathroom wearing a long, sleeveless gray nightgown. She still wore her black gloves. "Don't you ever take those off?" Cole asked.

Paula shook her head. "No. I can't. If I do..." She shook her head again, harder, but he could tell that this time the gesture was to dispel unpleasant memories. "Well, anyway, I don't ever take them off. That's why you'll never see me in anything long-sleeved; long sleeves and long gloves don't mix too well."

"Oh. That must be fun in winter."

"Says the California boy. Trust me, you have no idea how cold it can get in New England."

"I was here before."

"Yes, as a demon. Full-bloods are impervious to cold; half-breeds barely notice it."

"I thought you weren't a demonologist."

"Not in-depth, no, but the basics I have down."

"Oh."

They didn't say anything else, and soon they went to sleep. Cole tried to ignore the feel of her next to him and finally managed it, drifting off.

* * *

Paula's eyes snapped open in the dark and she gasped, regaining herself. Remembering that she wasn't alone, she reached out with her mind to ensure that Cole was still asleep before rolling quietly out of the bed.

The room had a large window with a window seat and it was there that she went, curling up and looking out at the night sky. It wasn't anything new, she was used to nightmares. Sometimes they were about her brief descent into darkness after Diana's death, but tonight...

She still remembered what had happened, in the future New York in the year 5246. How the Doctor had been murdered by his own evil double, the Valeyard, and how she and River had watched him die. And then, after that, they would have been stuck in a time not their own, except...

The TARDIS was mildly telepathic. Paula had always known that, since she could feel it - her - in the back of her mind. And so she'd come up with the idea of touching the console with her bare hands, hoping she could tap into the TARDIS like a person and get them home. It had worked, but...

She wasn't a Time Lord, not even close. But for a moment, she'd gotten a clue as to what it would be like to be one. She'd seen, felt, heard, so much, and even eight years later, her mind couldn't quite comprehend it all. The Time Vortex had taken her, much as it had taken another companion, Rose Tyler, but it had let her go.

She'd been left different, of course. Her eyes had turned gold, and her talent for picking up languages - already enhanced because of her Whitelighter blood - had gotten even better. And her senses had changed slightly. She'd always been able to tell, through telepathy, whether someone had any level of power, if they were human, demon, or alien. But after the Vortex she could also sense when someone wasn't in the proper time, or the proper reality.

But the memory of how it had felt... She'd burned with it, and sometimes she wondered how the hell she'd survived it. Even now she couldn't have explained it. But she had, and the only harm it had done, in the end, was the nightmares that came back, of the burning, and of the awful disasters of years past and yet to come.

"Paula?" She jumped. Damn it, but she really needed to work on not missing people when she went all introspective.

"Hey," she said quietly, looking up at Cole as he walked towards her.

He sat down next to her on the window. "You OK?"

"Yeah. Just a nightmare."

He sighed. "Me too. Want to talk about it?"

"No. Do you?"

"Not really."

She laughed. "You know, we're a lot alike."

"Yeah. You're the only witch I know who takes the time to see both sides of the story."

And just like that she knew what he'd been dreaming about. "Cole..."

"No, don't. It's fine; I'm learning to deal with it. It's not easy, but I think I'm getting there."

She smiled sadly. "I know how you feel." She thought about that for a second and them amended her statement. "Well, no, I guess I don't, exactly, but I have an idea, at least."

"That's something," he said. "So, how did you get through the first few months?"

"I buried myself in research, investigations... Actually, I can thank Micah for giving me the drive to get this place off the ground. Sometimes though..." She shook her head. "Sometimes you just want to forget."

She'd dropped her head, but he wanted her looking at him. He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face up. "And how do you do that?" he asked, his voice lower than it had been.

"You... well..." She couldn't breathe properly.

"What?" He knew he was too close to her now, but he didn't care. He didn't mind the thought of that last bit of distance closing either...

The kiss started out gentle but soon became hard, passionate, and demanding. Part of Paula knew this was a really bad idea, but that part was silenced by the much louder part than just wanted this, wanted the man who was kissing her, wanted to chase away his heartbreak and her own.

* * *

Astrid opened her eyes slowly, feeling her husband's arms wrapped around her for the first time in months. She didn't want to get up and break the peace, but she saw it was half past ten, and she never slept that late. So, reluctantly, she pulled herself away. Oddly enough, Ben didn't even stir. He wasn't usually such a sound sleeper.

Then again, it had been a long time since they'd done more than sleep next to each other. Maybe she'd tired him out. With that amusing thought in mind, she walked to the bathroom for a shower.

She was about to step under the hot spray when she noticed the elbow-length black gloves on her hands. What the hell? She didn't wear gloves like this, especially not to bed. She and Ben weren't into costumes. So why was she wearing them?

Shaking her head, she took them off and moved to open the shower door. When her hand touched the metal handle, her mind was filled with fractured images, flashing by so fast she couldn't make any sense of them. Crying out in fear, she jumped back, losing her balance and falling to the floor.

"Astrid?" Ben called from the bedroom.

"Ben, something's happened to me!"

He ran in. "Yeah, you're on the floor. Astrid, you're fine." He offered a hand to help her up. She stared at it as though she feared it would hurt her, shaking her head. He frowned, confused, before grabbing her hand to pull her up.

More images flashed through Astrid's head, strange flashes of caves and a red, black-marked monster, and a pretty brunette woman. A pang of jealousy surprised her. Just who was that woman? She cried out and let go. "Ben… What's happening to me? I can't touch anything without images popping into my head, they don't make sense and I…" She sank to the floor again, crying. Her head was killing her already.

And then it got worse. Because suddenly, voices filled her head, a chatter she couldn't block out, getting louder and louder until it all became white noise. She screamed, curling into a ball. What was happening to her? "Ben, please, help me," she whispered, though God knew how he was going to do that.

Ben could only watch helplessly as his wife sobbed on the floor. He didn't know what was happening either. They'd come to this place to work on their failing marriage, and now Astrid seemed to be losing her mind.

That was when he heard a cell phone ringing, and he went to answer it, hoping foolishly that the person on the other line could help, somehow. He didn't recognize the number on the caller ID, but he answered anyway. "Hello?"

"Cole?"

"I'm sorry, who?"

"Turner, it's Caleb. Now stop being a smart-ass. Why are you answering Paula's cell?"

"Who the hell are you and who is Paula?" Ben snapped. The voice on the other line was silent for a moment, and when the man spoke again, he sounded concerned.

"What's your name?"

"Ben Rivers."

"Oh shit."

"Finally realized you've got the wrong number?"

"No, I… Um… Is your wife all right? Astrid? Or is she having problems? Hearing voices?"

"How did you… If you did this to her I swear -"

"No, no, I didn't do anything, but I know what's happening. Look, just stay where you are and I'll be there to speak to you."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Caleb Carnahan, and soon you'll know that anyway."

If Astrid concentrated, she could push the noise back enough that she could think. Enough so that she could function, and listen to Ben as he explained what he'd been told on the phone. She didn't know the name Caleb Carnahan either, but for some reason, she felt she could trust him. The feeling would have scared her if there weren't worse things to fear. Like the voices in her head or what happened when her bare hands touched anything.

She dressed and slid the long black gloves back on. With them on she felt a little more secure, a little steadier. She was safe from part of what was happening, at least. Safe from what happened when she touched things, but not safe from the voices in her head. Was she going crazy? But did crazy people wonder if they were going crazy?

She came back into the bedroom and sat quietly on the bed. Ben sat next to her, taking her hand in his. "Whatever's going on, I'm here for you. I promise," he told her.

She smiled at him. "I know. I just hope this Carnahan can help us. Whoever he is."

* * *

Caleb wanted to bang his head repeatedly on the desk. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. Now, if only Cole's memory had been wiped, Paula could fix it, but if whatever the Briarwood people had could mess with Paula's head, how could he fix it? He was a witch, but not a telepath, and he didn't know much about this kind of thing.

Gwyn had been a psychic… but her powers had been centered on the dead. Even if he could track her down, she wouldn't be able to help. So it was down to him.

_Think, Carnahan_, he told himself, standing in Paula's library. Surely there was something here. But then again… Paula's powers were still there. What if he took something of hers and made her touch it? She was a stranger to herself right now, so she should pick up on her own imprints. If that jarred her memory, then she could fix Cole.

He left the office at a run, heading for Paula's apartment. He wasn't sure what he was going to take with him, but it had to be something she used a lot, something she'd had for a long time. God, he hoped this worked.

* * *

Carnahan was a tall blond man with worried hazel eyes. He walked in holding a necklace. The pendant was a five-pointed star in a circle – a pentacle, Astrid thought. Why was he carrying that?

"Hi," he said uncomfortably, looking at the two of them sitting together on the bed. Oh_, this is going to be a problem later_, she heard him think.

"What's going to be a problem?" she asked.

"Uh… Look, Ms. Rivers, could you take this? After you take off a glove?" he said, holding out the necklace. She stared at him.

"Why would I touch that barehanded? I thought you knew what was happening to me."

"I do, but you need to do this. Please. It should make things clearer."

Astrid stared at him, but the plea in his voice seemed genuine. His eyes echoed what she heard, and so, reluctantly, she took off her right glove and took the necklace.

_Mommy and Daddy fighting, Daddy leaving…_

_Mommy walking away from her in the mall, she's all alone…_

_One home, then another, why didn't they want her?_

_His hands on her body, his mouth on hers… Her head hurts so bad and then he collapses…_

_Diana and Con, "You're a witch." Training, family, Caleb, Gwyn and Ryan, the best part of her life._

_Diana murdered, hunting in the Underworld, Con dying to save her…_

_The Doctor and River, traveling through time._

_Micah, who had broken her heart without even looking back_

_Cole and Caleb again, Gemini and a undercover op…_

"Caleb?" she gasped, staring up at him.

"Hey, Red."

"Excuse me?" The angry voice belonged to Ben – no, Cole. Oh, God, Cole. She'd slept with him, last night, and they'd definitely still been themselves. _Shit_.

But she could worry about that one later. Right now she had to fix him, before this got even messier. She turned her head, gold eyes locking on blue. She sent a hard jolt of power into his mind. He cried out before slumping to the floor, unconscious.

"Is he all right?" Caleb asked.

"When he wakes up he will be. Except for the headache, but that'll pass."

* * *

"So, Dr. Rowlands, who – or what – are you really?" Paula said coldly, staring at the doctor, who fidgeted under that cold glare.

"I'm just trying to help," he said weakly.

"Mind-rape's not helpful," Cole snapped. "It's manipulation. You're taking away their choices, rewriting who they are. What if other people lied like we did? Not as much, obviously, but you're _changing people_!"

"I'm so sorry, I just thought," Rowlands said, crumbling.

Paula studied him thoughtfully. "You really mean it, don't you?" Her voice wasn't hard now, just curious. "You really came here to help people."

"Came here? I don't understand."

"You're an alien of some kind, or a human from the future, because there's nothing in this time that'd do what you did except magic, and I'd've felt that."

Rowlands closed his eyes, looking even more defeated, if that were possible. "I'm only trying to help people. It's what I'm meant to do, help people find love. Or rediscover it. I helped you too, didn't I?"

That didn't bear responding to. Cole and Paula got up, Cole striding out without another word. Paula studied the doctor. "Help people without messing with their heads. The most you can do is lower their defenses a bit. That's helping. And if you don't, we'll be back, and it won't be to give a second warning."

* * *

The vodka wasn't helping. Granted, she'd only had half a glass, so maybe that was it. But unfortunately, the burning liquid was only reminding her of a visit to bar where she'd ordered something far less strong and had told a blue-eyed man that getting drunk didn't help.

"Damn it!" she snapped, throwing the glass against the wall.

"Remind me not to piss you off." She whirled to see Cole standing there.

"Ever heard of knocking?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't sure you'd let me in. Look, Paula, about…"

"We do need to talk about it, don't we?"

"I think so. I'm not going to say I'm sorry, because I'm not, but I'm not going to expect anything."

"I'm the woman; isn't that my line?"

"I wouldn't know. I've only been human for a few years and my only other real lover tried to kill me – actually, she _did_ kill me."

"Cole…"

"Well, it's true."

"The only man I ever let myself love ripped my heart out the day he left me alone in a Dublin hotel. Neither of us have a stellar track record."

"So where do we go from here?"

Paula closed the distance between them, standing right in front of him. "I don't know. Why don't we find out?"

"I can do that," he said, bending to kiss her.

A/N: OK, well, this took a lot longer to get through than I thought. Next chapter: Gemini's recruiting methods are even weirder than Torchwood's.


	6. Organic Intelligence

_**Chapter 6 – Organic Intelligence:**_ They came in together the next morning. They also came in late. Caleb didn't say a word, though he was curious. Maybe the counseling and the memory rewrite had been good for them. _Still, Turner better not hurt her like Trevaine did, or I'll kill him._ With that decided, Caleb went back to work finishing up a report.

Paula knew what her friend was thinking; he'd gotten out of the habit of building mental walls in his Marine years, she noted with mild disapproval. Time was he'd have been able to keep her – and any other psychics – out of all but his loudest thoughts. She'd have to get him back into shape on that. But what he was thinking amused her. She didn't need protecting, though it meant a lot that she knew he was willing to step into the protector's role.

Cole felt Caleb's eyes on him and thought he knew why. Paula and Caleb were close enough that the other man had probably heard all about Micah Trevaine. He had no intention of pulling anything similar – he knew how it felt to have your heart ripped out too, after all. Maybe that was what drew him to Paula now, that mutual understanding. But maybe he shouldn't analyze it too much. He was happy again, wasn't that enough?

They were all still lost in their own thoughts when Daniel Morgan showed up. "Hey, you guys. Look, I think I've got something that's up your alley."

The three private detectives turned, and Daniel suddenly found himself wondering just what was going on with this group. He hadn't become a detective without being observant, and he could see that the dynamics around here were changing. He noted the way Paula and Cole stood closer than before, and hid a smile. He didn't know what had happened in England, but he was glad Paula seemed to be over it.

"So?" the redhead in question asked. "What's the case?"

"Disappearances. Only they're old, cold cases."

"OK, why are we interested?"

He handed her the crime scene photos. "Because their bodies have been found. Completely preserved. There's still one person who disappeared the same way and hasn't yet been found. Magdalene Quinn, age 24, who disappeared in 1986."

"That's a good reason to be interested," Cole observed.

"So are we thinking…" Caleb trailed off when he realized he should be a little more discreet in front of Daniel.

"Well, I'll let you three get to it," the detective said, walking out of the office. Paula turned to Caleb.

"You were saying?"

"Are we thinking magical or alien?" the ex-Marine finished.

"I can think of a few demons who keep prisoners for long periods," Cole said, leaning against a desk. "But the bodies wouldn't be perfect."

"You're thinking of the Spider Demon?" Paula asked.

"Yeah. But then the bodies would be aged and they'd all be witches or otherwise magical. These people… they all seem normal."

"Which doesn't mean anything. So we can't rule out either," Caleb concluded.

"Where would the fun be in that?" Paula quipped. Caleb and Cole groaned. Sometimes they didn't know what to do about their crazy redhead.

* * *

Three days later, they hadn't gotten anywhere. The victims had absolutely no connection, except that they all had good academic records. And that was hardly anything useful. Paula couldn't shake the feeling that Magdalene Quinn was still alive, and that they could still save her. But time was running out. She knew that. She couldn't have said how, it was just an instinct. Over the years, she'd learned to trust those instincts.

Caleb watched Paula with increasing wariness. He'd known her longer than Cole, so even if his old friend and the ex-demon were an item now, he was still the expert on the redhead. And when she was in this mindset, things tended to get messy. He knew her instincts were usually right - he could still remember a Magic School teacher who'd turned out to be in the employ of the Source – but she was driving herself crazy over this. "You know, you're not always right, Paula. We don't know that she's even still alive; it may be that all we can do is find her killers."

"Then we'll do that," she snapped. "And I think we've still got a chance. Have I ever been wrong yet?"

"No, but you're reminding me of this NCIS agent I met once when a guy in my unit was drug-running."

"I did my first undercover job with an NCIS agent, so I'll take that as a compliment. Now get back to work, will you?"

Cole watched them, deciding not to get into the fight. Caleb and Paula would calm down eventually, and it would happen faster if they got something. So he continued to look through the files, hoping for some clue they'd missed. It occurred to him, as he looked through the Quinn file again, that it was both a tragedy and a blessing that the woman had no one to miss her. Magdalene Quinn was an only child of only children. Her parents and three of her grandparents were dead; the remaining grandmother was in a Connecticut nursing home, suffering from dementia. If they didn't find her in time, there'd be no one to tell, and if they did, she wouldn't lose two decades. Because if they found her alive, Cole was willing to bet she would still be 24, considering what had happened to the other victims.

That was when he noticed something – where she'd disappeared from. Frowning, he looked over the other files. He'd been right. "Guys, listen to this. All of the vics disappeared near subway stops – all near a station that was abandoned just before the first one disappeared."

Paula came over to where he was sitting, peering over his shoulder at the papers. "You're right. Come on, let's go."

"Paula, it might just be – " Caleb began, stopping when Paula glared at him.

"It's the only lead we've got. I know you've got issues with going underground, Cal, but we need to go. So let's roll."

* * *

It wasn't the going underground that bothered Caleb. It was how narrow the damn tunnels were. He was claustrophobic, and enclosed areas that were also dark were even worse. Even the Corps hadn't knocked the phobia out of him. His Marine training had, however, taught him to handle the fear, and it was that he fell back on when they climbed into the tunnel.

They'd gone down an abandoned entrance, Paula using mild mind control to make sure no one noticed them. Jedi Mind Trick, Caleb had commented, earning a grin from Paula and a confused frown from Cole. When this was over, Caleb decided, he was really going to have to work on the ex-demon's pop culture knowledge. Honestly, who didn't know about _Star Wars_?

He was jerked out his musings by the faint whirring sound of machinery, a sound that was definitely out of place in an old subway tunnel. "Hello," Paula murmured, sounding pleased. "Nice call, Turner."

Cole shrugged. "Lucky break."

Following the sound, they came up to a locked metal door. There was no keyhole that Caleb could see, and he wasn't sure how they'd get in. Would orbing or shimmering work when neither Cole nor Paula knew what lay on the other side? He was pretty sure it would be difficult if not impossible under the circumstances. But Paula was studying the door with narrowed eyes, her expression saying that she had a plan.

Smirking, his friend pulled out a pen. He frowned. OK, he knew Paula was good, but what was a pen going to do? He hadn't seen much of her since Magic School though – maybe the pen was more than it appeared.

It certainly was. She clicked it, but instead of the pen point coming out, a blue light shone into the crack between door and wall. Another type of whirring was heard, followed by a click as the door opened. "Brilliant. No deadlock seal," Paula said happily.

"What the hell is that thing?" Cole asked, echoing Caleb's thoughts.

"Sonic pen," Paula replied carelessly as she walked through the now-open doorway. "The Doctor had it lying around. Sarah Jane Smith's got a sonic lipstick, this isn't half as odd."

"Sarah Jane? She was one of the other companions, right?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah. Come on, there's no time to talk, boys." And with that she disappeared into the hallway behind the door, Caleb and Cole exchanged exasperated looks before following her. She was right, Caleb knew, it was just annoying when she was in this kind of mood. He almost thought he preferred the bitchy version from earlier. Almost.

They walked down the corridor in silence, all senses on alert. There was nothing save for the incessant whirring and a faint blue light, but that was enough to make them edgy. These things, whatever they were – and at this point Caleb would have laid a hefty wager that they were dealing with an alien threat rather than a supernatural one – had already been responsible for several deaths. Caution never hurt anyone. With that thought in mind, his hand slipped inside his jacket to rest on the butt of the Glock he wore holstered at his hip. Just in case.

It didn't take long to find the source of the blue light. They turned a corner and found themselves in a large room, empty except for one thing. This was a tall cylinder about twice Cole's – the tallest of them – height, made of glass or something else transparent. It was filled with a glowing blue liquid, inside of which floated a nude young woman, her dark brown hair drifting around her face, her eyes closed, tubes hooked up to her and to the cylinder. There were a few machines connected to the cylinder, but nothing else.

"That's Quinn," Cole said, sounding slightly sick. "What the hell did they do to her?"

Caleb didn't know, but he too felt sick just looking at her there. She had a delicate, pretty face, and held like this, she looked every bit as helpless as she was. Whatever had happened, this was horrible. Almost unconsciously he stepped forward, fingertips brushing the glass. "We need to get her out."

"She is our energy source," said a voice. The three Gemini members turned to face the speaker. He – the voice sounded male, anyway – was a tall humanoid with shimmery, pale blue skin dressed in a flowing white robe. He would have looked non-threatening except for the total coldness in his solid black eyes – oh, and the gun he held in his hand, aimed at Caleb, who stood the closest to the woman.

"What?" Paula snapped.

"She powers our camp," the alien explained patiently. "She will be the one to power our weapon."

"And just what is this weapon going to do?" Cole wanted to know.

The alien smiled cruelly. "Make this planet fit for the Alteri and get rid of human parasites."

_Oh_, Caleb thought. _So we've walked into a take-over-the-world plot. Just great. _He was still touching his gun and wondered if he could get it out fast enough. The alien continued to speak. "The other were weak, incapable of more than keeping us going. This one is strong. It is almost a pity that powering the weapon will destroy her – we would have liked to have the use of her for longer."

Something snapped in Caleb then and he decided to take his chances. Whipping out his gun, he fired at the bastard's forehead. He was too focused to notice just how fast he'd moved, much faster than was natural. The alien went down, and then Caleb turned to the cylinder. He took careful aim at the bottom, below Magdalene, and fired again. The bullet impacted, hairline cracks spreading from the hole. A moment later, the whole thing shattered. Magdalene tumbled out and Caleb lunged to catch her. She was limp in his arms, still unconscious, and Caleb was shocked at how protective he felt already of her.

"Nice, Cal, though I'm not sure…" Paula trailed off as the whirring stopped and screams of rage could be heard. "Oh, shit. Guys, we've got incoming!"

They did. About a dozen more of the aliens came running down the corridor, guns pointed. Without even glancing at each other, Cole, Caleb, and Paula fought back. Gunshots echoed against the walls, energy balls flashed through the air, and several aliens simply dropped dead, clutching their heads. Paula nearly got hit by a laser bolt – the damn aliens would have to have laser guns – but Cole knocked her out of the way in time. One of the aliens tried to throw a knife at Caleb, or rather at the woman lying beside him, but Paula threw one of her own, throwing it off course.

The aliens – Alteri, Paula reminded herself, fixing the name in her mind – were pissed off, but they weren't very good fighters, and it didn't take long to take them down. Surveying the bodies, Paula said, "We really need zat guns."

"What are those?" Cole asked.

"SGC has them – that's an Air Force program. One shot stuns, two shots kill, and the third shot makes the body disappear."

"Can we talk about this later? We should probably get out of here before she wakes up," Caleb said.

* * *

They went back to the office, putting Magdalene in the makeshift infirmary – after putting her in some of Paula's clothes. Caleb had taken a field medic's course as a Marine, so Paula and Cole left him to do what he could for the woman. They couldn't take her to a hospital, too risky, so they'd have to do everything here.

"Caleb seems pretty attached to her," Cole observed.

"Yeah, noticed that," Paula agreed. "I also noticed that he's got a new power. Super-speed. I don't think he's realized it yet."

"As I said, he's caught up with Quinn. Any idea why?"

"Not really, it's not like him."

"Figured. So, what are we going to do about her?"

"I… She's about twenty years out of her time, Cole. I was thinking we could offer her a job."

"She doesn't have any useful skills. She's a normal woman – just out of her time."

"So was River Song."

"Who?"

"She and I were with the Doctor together. She was just an archaeology student, and the Doctor showed her how much there was to the world. I'm going to make the offer. What happens next is up to her."

A/N: As I said, weird recruiting methods. Anyway, for anyone interested, Gemini is part of a larger series called A Moment To Be Real. All fics in the series are listed on my profile, if you want to check any of them out. Next chapter: Caleb's attempts to help Magdalene adjust backfire while Paula must deal with someone else who's out of his time, someone with a secret much like her own.


	7. Temporal Shift

Disclaimer: If it were mine, Phoebe's final husband would have been Cole, not the bloody Cupid! That or Cole would have left town after telling the sisters to go to hell.

_**Chapter 7 – Temporal Shift: **_Caleb sat next to Magdalene's bed, still not sure why he was here. Sure, he was keeping an eye on her vitals – and he needed to talk to Paula about some kind of medical contingency. What if one of them was injured? He had only basic abilities, and Paula's newly-reinstated Whitelighter of a father was hardly dependable. He and Paula had both, at different times and in different ways, given up their rights to a Whitelighter. It was to be free of the Elders, and Caleb wouldn't argue that was a good thing. And yet... he didn't want someone to die because they didn't have adequate medical care, and since hospitals were out of the question... _We need more help._

His attempt to think about practicalities failed him, though, as his eyes fell on the sleeping brunette again. He still wasn't sure what it was about her that made him feel so protective, but he wasn't going to analyze it. It wasn't going away, so why bother? He sighed, rubbing his eyes. He was tired, but he didn't want to sleep.

He jerked upright as she suddenly stirred. "Magdalene?" he asked gently as her eyes blinked open. She sat bolt upright and stared at him.

"Who are you?" she demanded, eyes wide with fear. He couldn't speak for a moment, and then he cleared his throat.

"My name is Caleb Carnahan. I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. We found you..." He trailed off, realizing he didn't know what she knew.

"With those, those things?" she asked, her voice rising an octave. "They took me... I don't know..." She shook her head, dropping her face into her hands.

"We got you out of there," Caleb said, tentatively putting a hand on her shoulder. Right now, with her already so upset, he couldn't think to tell her that she'd been a prisoner for twenty-odd years. "Magdalene, it'll be all right."

"Maggie," she said, looking up at him with a hint of fire suddenly in her brown eyes. "No one ever calls me Magdalene. It's Maggie."

He smiled, couldn't help it. That flash of spunk told him that as shaken up as she was, Magdalene – no, _Maggie_ – Quinn would be all right.

* * *

In the office, Paula tilted her head. "I think she's awake," she said. Cole glanced at her.

"So should we go help Caleb explain?"

"I will. You, on the other hand, have an appointment."

"Wait, what?"

"I told you, didn't I? You're meeting with a low-level DESI agent who's going to fix every record to make sure you can't have any legal problems due to your time being 'dead' or any of your disappearances. He'll even get you a driver's license."

Cole frowned. "Not that I'm not grateful, but you couldn't have mentioned this before?"

"I thought I did."

"No, doesn't sound familiar."

"Oh, sorry. Well, you'd better get going because you're almost late. Here." She handed him a slip of paper. "There's the address, but don't drive. Take a cab or the bus."

When he stared at her, she flapped her hand at him. "Go! Shoo!"

"Wonderful," he muttered, shaking his head as he left. Paula grinned mischievously. She knew she hadn't said anything, but she enjoyed making the boys think on their feet. It was always fun.

She was shutting off her office light when she heard the faint chimes that signaled someone orbing in. She turned around, half-expecting to see her father or else Andrew, her former Whitelighter, but it wasn't. The man – boy, almost – standing before her was a stranger, though oddly familiar. He looked about twenty or so, had tousled brown hair, watchful green eyes, and an air of near-desperation about him. When he spotted her in the doorway, he sighed, his relief blatantly clear. "Aunt Paula, thank God. I need your help."

Paula stepped back inside, closing her door with a loud snap. "What did you just call me?"

* * *

"So, Caleb, where am I and what's going on? How long has it been since I was kidnapped?"

Caleb hesitated. He wasn't sure where to begin. Where was Paula? She certainly knew Maggie was awake. He knew why Cole wasn't here – Paula had said something about making some kind of appointment for him – but Red ought to be. He wasn't cut out to deal with time issues, that was one of Paula's areas. Tell him what to shoot at or throw magic at, come up with a plan of attack, that was what he was comfortable with. But this... He took a breath, thinking. Honestly, he wanted to be the one to talk to her, to help her through this. He just wasn't sure how.

"Maggie... What year do you think it is?"

"1986," she said promptly.

Caleb shook his head. "No, it's not. It's 2006."

Maggie blinked, and then she laughed. "Oh, that's very funny. Seriously, Caleb, I'd believe a year or two, but twenty?"

Caleb swallowed, trying to think. There was a newspaper in the main office; it was a few days old, but it still said 2006. He went to get it, and then silently handed it to her. Maggie looked down at it, her face going white. "I... I don't... " She was at a loss for words, completely wrapped up in her shock.

Caleb, watching her, wanted desperately to help ease what was happening, somehow, but he couldn't think of anything. No words of comfort came to mind – none, at least, that didn't seem pathetically trite, and that wouldn't do any good. Thinking desperately, he came up with an idea that any Magic School graduate – or even former attendee, as Caleb hadn't actually graduated – should have known better than to try. He decided to use a spell.

* * *

"Oh, God, I shouldn't have – Look, can you forget I said that? Please, Miss Ravenwood, I need your help," the young man said, panic making him stumble a bit over his words.

"Sorry, but no, I don't forget it when someone only a few years my junior refers to me as 'Aunt'. So, who are you and what, exactly, do you need my help with?" When he shifted from foot to foot, silent, she sighed. "Look, I'm not going to kill you. Sit down and explain this to me calmly." She sat back at her desk and he took the chair opposite, studying his hands for a long moment before looking up at her.

"My name is Chris, Chris Halliwell. I'm Leo Wyatt and Piper Halliwell's younger son, though they don't know it yet. I came from the future to stop... to stop my older brother from becoming evil and taking over the world."

Paula just stared at him for a moment. Like everyone else in the magical world, she knew about Wyatt Halliwell, the Twice-Blessed. The day of his birth, when magic had gone down, had been a relief for her in some ways. She didn't have to wall herself off, and she'd gone without gloves for the first time since she was sixteen. But at the same time, it had been like going blind. She'd also heard the theories about what that power level might mean, that the boy might go evil just because of the sheer magnitude of his gifts. Hell, she and Cole had spent time trouble-shooting, operating on the theory that the Charmed Ones wouldn't be able to face killing one of their own. But she'd never seen something like this coming. _So,_ she thought, _first things first; get more information._

"OK, assuming I believe that, why come to me?"

Chris flinched. "I'd think you'd know how to get past my mental blocks. You taught me how to do them. And told me the rules for time-travel, about avoiding paradoxes and all that."

Oh hell. If that were true, her future self was either stupid or desperate. Not that the two conditions were always mutually exclusive. And reaching out to probe his mind, Paula was forced to conclude that he was, in fact, telling the truth. He felt like a time traveler, and as far as she could tell, he was telling the truth about his identity as well. Still, that didn't answer everything.

"Why come to me? I've got no ties to my biological family, so you ought to go to them."

"I have. I set things up so Leo became an Elder and I'd be their Whitelighter. It's just, I need help."

She was impressed by that one – how had he managed to get those celestial bureaucrats to take a 'rebel' Whitelighter into their ranks? But, as it wasn't exactly a key point, she ignored it. "None of this explains what you need me for."

"I need to find out what turned Wyatt. You – well, your future self – said you picked up on some early trauma in his mind, either from an attempt to turn him evil or an attempt to hurt him. I wanted you to see if it had happened."

"By what, examining the mind of a baby boy whose mother doesn't know me? No offense, but that plan is horrible."

"You could tell her who you were and do it on the sly."

"Oh no, no way."

He looked hard at her then, and those green eyes were much older than they ought to be. "You regret it later, never knowing them. You said you wished you could change it."

Paula had to look away from the expression in his eyes because she knew he was sincere. And she couldn't face that possibility. Regretting what good might have come of a family reunion was better than risking all the bad that was far more likely to result. "I think I liked your first plan better, though I'm not sure I'm right for the job. Cole, however, can sense evil, so he could check."

"_Cole_?" Chris' voice had actually shot up a few octaves. "As in _Cole Turner_, the Source of All Evil? Even if he wasn't as bad as Wyatt will be if I don't stop it, he's dead."

Well, that answered one question at least. Or two, rather. It told her that Chris – and therefore, the Charmed Ones – never knew the truth about Cole in Chris' future. It also explained part of what her future self had said when pitching the idea of hiring Cole.

"_You have to hire him. Not only because not doing so would change your own personal timeline – remember, in my future Cole and I work together – but because it's a step," her future self said. _

"_A step to what, exactly?" Paula asked suspiciously. _

"_Fixing the future. Look, I can't explain, but I promise if you just do what I say you'll understand. You know I know the risks of time travel. Would I do this if it weren't necessary?"_

"He was possessed, and this time around, I hired him away from San Francisco and fixed his power issues before the borrowed abilities drove him mad," she corrected the other witchlighter calmly. "That's good news for you, right?"

Chris frowned, puzzled. "How exactly is that good news?"

"It means the timeline's already changing. Means your chances of pulling this crazy stunt off are better than I thought. Sometimes you can't change things, you know."

"I know, some points in time are fixed, you told me. Stuff like Pompeii."

"I gave you the whole time-traveling lecture, didn't I?"

"Cliff-Notes at least."

"Well, that's something anyway." She smirked at him. "So, how about it? We figure out a way to get me and Cole to Wyatt, and then we'll both check for you. Me for mental trauma, Cole for evil."

Chris nodded. "But if you don't want the sisters to catch you, how are we going to do this?"

"I might have a spell for that." Though the Doctor wouldn't be happy if he ever knew she'd used it. Still, to help a fellow time-traveler... hell, at least no one could say it wasn't appropriate.

* * *

Cole was going to kill Paula. Well, maybe not – he had a feeling she just might be able to kill him first. But sending him to this idiot certainly merited some form of punishment!

"Date of birth?" the DESI paper-pusher droned yet again.

"1889," Cole bit out.

"Very funny. Real date of birth?"

"That is my real date of birth, you imbecile. Did Paula tell you anything about me?"

The young man straightened his glasses and sat up very importantly. Cole resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Who did this guy think he was kidding? "Miss Ravenwood informed me that you were a man of magical background who required proper identification in the form of driver's license, passport, and legal papers. She also said you were a lawyer, so you _should_ understand the importance of all this."

"OK, well what she forgot to tell you is that I'm a former demon who happens to be 117 years old!" Cole snapped. "So my real birth date _is_ 1889. However, I'm sure you won't want to put that on the official papers."

The man was now dead white, his eyes wide behind his wire-frame glasses. "A demon? But... you... you look so human!"

_Oh for crying out loud! This man's an idiot. Paula, I'm going to kill you!_ "A lot of demons can look human. As for me, my father was human. So I get my looks naturally. Now can you just fill in some information so I can get back to my job?!"

The man bit his lip, even more terrified now, apparently. "Right away," he mumbled. "Does 1970 work for a birth year?"

* * *

"Caleb, I'm going out, so – " Paula stopped mid-sentence at the stricken look on Caleb's face. He hadn't even noticed Chris, something that was unlike her friend. "What happened? Where's Magdalene?"

"Maggie's... Paula... I was trying to help her, make her more accepting of what happened to her..."

"You used magic. Cal, you know better!"

"It wasn't personal gain! At least, I don't think... I wanted it for her."

"Still. What happened?"

"Well, she's more accepting... but she's also a kid, and then she just vanished."

Paula resisted the urge to hit him upside the head. That tactic really _was_ tempting; something she'd never appreciated when she'd observed others using it. She took a few deep breaths instead. Then she glanced at her... nephew. "Chris, I have to handle this first. If you like, you can help."

Chris nodded. "All right."

"Who are you?" Caleb asked, frowning.

"He's a client of mine."

"Yours? But I thought –"

"Usually we work cases together, yes, but this is an exception. Now let's try and find Maggie, shall we?"

As it happened, there were a few strands of Maggie's hair on her pillow, which Paula thought should be enough for scrying. "You use hair?" Chris asked, frowning.

"Never tried it before, but if blood works, why not?"

Chris shrugged. "I never thought of it like that."

"Rule number one, always be ready to improvise," Paula quipped before applying herself to scrying. Caleb rolled his eyes, but Chris smiled. It was comforting to see that one of his aunts was very like her older self. He just didn't know if this would work.

But it did. Paula smirked, proud that her brainwave had come through – she hadn't been sure about it either. But the crystal had landed on the Boston map she'd dragged out, and it appeared their 'kid' was in a playground.

* * *

Cole left the DESI satellite office with an ironclad identity and a pounding headache. The first thing he was grateful for, the second negated about half of that. He'd decided that he wasn't going to try killing Paula - he'd had enough of the wrath of Halliwell women - but he was still going to try and find some sort of payback.

When he got back to headquarters, there wasn't anyone there except for a dark-haired young man who gave Cole an uncertain look when he saw him. "Uh, Paula and Caleb are taking care of something that happened with Maggie," he said.

"Who are you?" Cole wanted to know.

"That's kind of a long story."

"Well apparently I have time, and I'm sure it can't be worse than dealing with idiotic bureaucrats, so why don't you tell me anyway?"

* * *

Caleb and Paula entered the playground to find a group of children clustered around a slight brunette girl who was playing a handheld video game. "That's Maggie," Caleb murmured.

"Hmm," said Paula. "Riddle me this: How does a girl from the eighties know how to play a Game Boy Advance?"

Caleb just stared at her; he hadn't thought of that. "They showed her?"

"No, those kids are stunned by something. There's more going on here."

They walked over to the kids and Maggie looked up at them. "I know you," she said to Caleb, her small face screwed up in a look of concentration. "Why do I know you?"

Paula did a quick mind trick, even though her conscience chided her for messing with the minds of children, and the boy who owned the Game Boy took it back before all the children moved away. Maggie frowned.

"What do you want?" she asked plaintively. But there was a flash in her eyes that made Paula think there was a bit of the adult asking that too. But she responded to the child.

"We just need to talk to you, sweetie, OK?"

"No! I shouldn't talk to strangers."

"I'm not a stranger, am I?" Caleb said, kneeling so he was at her level. He held out a hand to her. She studied him thoughtfully.

"Caleb, freeze everything, just in case," Paula muttered hurriedly. He did so, leaving himself, Paula, and Maggie the only ones moving. But Maggie never noticed, too caught up in Caleb's eyes, which never left her face. She took his hand, and a soft glow surrounded her. When it dissipated, Maggie the adult was standing there. Caleb dropped her hand immediately.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never meant – " he began, only for her to cut him off.

"It's OK, Caleb. You were trying to help, and you did. It's fine."

Paula glanced around. "Can we go before they start moving again?" She got nods from them both, so she grabbed their hands and orbed them out.

* * *

Cole didn't know what to say. Granted, he'd traveled through time once, trying to change things, but this kid's plan was far more sophisticated than his had been. He had simply planned to end the Halliwell line with its founder; Chris was trying to change the fate of his family by stopping an unknown influence from turning his brother evil.

He was impressed that someone this young had come up with such a plan. Granted, he'd had the advice of his time-traveling aunt, and desperation was the mother of all invention, so maybe it wasn't that shocking. What was shocking was that Cole thought the kid might actually pull it off. He had a plan, and while he'd been initially shaken by Cole's existence – and Cole hadn't reacted much better to his original fate, the one Chris recounted – he now seemed to see it as a positive sign. If one thing could change, why not something else? Granted, Chris' plan wasn't the best he'd ever heard of, but at least he'd spent more time on it than his aunts and mother usually did.

The faint sound of chimes signaled the others' return, and Cole got his first glimpse of Magge Quinn awake. She was still delicate, but she didn't look weak anymore. Maybe she could handle it if Paula gave her a job offer.

"Cole, did Chris give you an overview?"

"Yeah, and I like the plan, except for the part where we have to go to the Halliwells. Isn't there something else we could do?"

"No, but don't worry. They won't be able to catch us. Now come on." She took his hand and Chris' and they orbed out together. They rematerialized across the street from the Manor while Paula scanned the house telepathically. "OK, there's no one in Wyatt's room; Chris, take us in?"

They orbed again, this time under Chris' direction, and reappeared in a room Cole had visited once during his brief time as an Avatar. The little boy in the crib was older than he'd been when Cole had seen him, and he raised a force field as Chris approached him. Cole raised an eyebrow, but Paula didn't even react. She was too busy muttering something under her breath.

The walls suddenly shimmered, as though he were seeing them through a heat haze. "Paula, what did you do?"

"Took us out of phase. We technically aren't on the same plane as the rest of the world right now. Can we get this done?"

"Sure, if the kid drops his shield."

Chris flinched. "He's never trusted me. I think he's picking up on what everyone else thinks of me."

"Paula, can't you do something?" Cole asked.

"Why don't you try?" she shot back. "He's looking at you."

Cole frowned, but approached the crib. To his shock, the shield dropped. "What the hell?" he said.

"No cursing in front of the kid," Paula admonished. "Best guess is he can tell you're tied to the little guardian he had when he was born, and so he trusts you."

Chris was confused but he was afraid to interrupt the duo as they checked Wyatt over with their powers. He was unsettled by their interaction, to say the least. He had a feeling they were sleeping together, and that was just weird. His Aunt Paula had never married, nor had she ever had any significant relationships that he'd known about. Was it possible she'd find that with Cole, the man her sister had once married? It was too creepy for him to think about.

"Well?" he said anxiously when Cole put Wyatt back in the crib. What if he was too late? What if – ?

"Chris, calm down," said Paula in the chiding, patient tone he knew all too well. "He's fine right now." She closed her eyes and muttered something unintelligible. The 'heat haze' cleared.

"We have to go," she said, "but if you need any more help, don't hesitate to call." She handed him her card before she orbed and Cole shimmered. Chris orbed out himself after pocketing the card – he didn't want the Charmed Ones catching him here either.

* * *

Cole and Paula returned to find Caleb and Maggie waiting for them. "I was wondering if I could stay," Maggie said calmly. "I think I could help you."

"Yes, I think you can," Paula said. "How did you know how to use the Game Boy?"

"No idea, it just came to me. And we tried the same thing with one of the computers here, and it was like instinct."

"Hmm," Paula said, frowning. "Technopathy, it sounds like. You have a… mental connection to technology. Must be some kind of side effect of being hooked up to that machine like a battery."

"So does it mean I'd be useful and I can stay?" Maggie asked, and her eagerness was clear.

"I'd have given you a job either way," Paula said firmly. "This is just a bonus."

"Good," Caleb said. "Now that we've got that settled, it's time to get Maggie up to date and fix Cole's woefully bad pop culture knowledge."

Cole scowled, Maggie frowned, and Paula raised an eyebrow. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

"Well, I thought we'd start by ordering a pizza and having a Star Wars marathon."

"Of course you did," Paula drawled, but that was exactly what they did, and surprisingly, they all enjoyed themselves.

A/N: OK, Chris is my other favorite character – besides Cole – I couldn't just ignore him. Next chapter: Strange aliens are prowling Boston's streets, but are they really aliens at all? Oh, this story now has a slideshow on YouTube. The link is in my account.


	8. Alternation

Disclaimer: Not mine.

_**Chapter 7 – Alternation:**_ After three months, the team was fully settled. Cole and Paula had decided not to move in together, but they both had toiletries and fresh clothing at each other's apartments, and they didn't bother to keep their relationship a secret. Meanwhile, Caleb and Maggie were acting, in Paula's opinion, like a pair of schoolkids with a crush. She couldn't decide if it was amusing or irritating. Right now, when Caleb was standing just a little too close as Maggie tinkered with her newest computer idea, it was amusing.

"I don't think staring at them is going to make them move any faster," Cole murmured in her ear, coming up from behind.

"No, but they're fun to watch. And I could… Well, I won't, but I may see about tracking down Cupid."

"Don't do that, for God's sake."

"Why not?"

"Because, if you have even the slightest bit of your sisters' luck, we'll be dealing with widespread lovesickness. The whole damn city will fall in love because you wanted to play matchmaker."

Paula laughed. "Sounds like a bad novel, but you might have a point there."

"A very trashy romance novel," he agreed.

"I think Caleb has _over_-educated you in pop culture."

"Considering I've had the theme songs from every movie and TV show he's made me watch playing through my head for three months, I'd have to agree."

"Damn. Tell him to lay off."

"Tried that. He didn't listen."

"So throw an energy ball at him! A small one, mind, one that'll just sting."

"Weren't you the one who decreed that we're not to use our powers against each other? Something about fostering trust between teammates?"

"Eh, it sounds like you're being subjected to psychological torture. It's self-defense."

He laughed and was about to respond when they were interrupted by the phone ringing. Paula grabbed it and said, "Hello?"

"…"

"OK… Someone turn on the news."

Maggie did so, and they stared at the footage on the screen, even as the anchor's voice came over the TV's speakers. _"So far, no one has been able to confirm if this supposed 'lizard-man' is someone pulling a prank or something a little bit more odd, but those who live in Boston's South Side are advised to watch yourselves, because it seems whoever's in the costume, he's dangerous." _

Paula hung up the phone. "That was Dan. He claims that the 'lizard-man' attacked someone – with claws."

"So, not a costume then," Caleb commented as he grabbed his bag. Cole grabbed the keys from their hook on the wall and went to go start the black SUV that Paula had finally bought – he'd gotten a new license, so he was allowed to drive again. Paula swung her own bag onto her shoulders and glanced back at Maggie.

"You'll keep track of things on this end?" she asked.

"I'll be hacking local security cameras before you're out of the parking lot," the brunette said cheerfully, turning to her monitors with relish. Paula shook her head and followed Caleb out the door.

* * *

"So, do we have a game plan?" Caleb wanted to know as they drove to where the lizard-man had last been seen.

"Probably the usual grab-and-question," Cole said. He meant their usual method of dealing with an alien visit; apprehending the newcomer, finding out their business, and acting accordingly. "Unless there's any objections?" he added, glancing at Paula, who had been staring out of the window, her eyes unfocused.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Sorry, I was trying to remember if I'd ever heard about any aliens matching this description when I was with the Doctor. I couldn't."

"Well, try to stay in the moment and not go off thinking about the past, all right?" Cole said.

"Sure thing, Qui-Gon," Paula muttered. The best way to get back at Cole these days was to make a pop culture reference. He always cringed. Caleb's use of sense bombardment tactics to get Cole – and to a lesser extent Maggie – up to date on pop culture was an effective strategy, but it had side effects. Generally, Paula found them amusing, though it occurred to her that if they dealt with laser guns anytime soon, it could be a problem. _Note to self, tell Caleb enough is enough. _

They got out of the car and Paula reached out with her mind, hoping to sense the alien, but she got nothing. She shook her head at the two men, both of whom were giving her hopeful looks. Cole scowled. "It just couldn't be easy, could it?"

"Of course not," Caleb said. "They don't like us Up There, remember?"

"Somehow I doubt the Elders are involved in this, Cal," Paula pointed out dryly, rolling her eyes. "The celestial assholes are too haughty to bother with the likes of us."

"Not to interrupt the Elder hate-fest, but what's that?" Cole pointed to what appeared to be a flash of light ahead of them, behind a building.

"No clue, but let's find out," Paula said. They walked over, and found themselves looking at a… window in the air, for lack of a better description. "What the hell?" she muttered.

"OK, anyone who's ever seen something like this before, raise your hand," Caleb quipped. Paula's hand whipped out and delivered a hard smack to the back of his head.

"Ouch!"

"Cut the smart remarks, marine," she said flatly. "No, none of us have seen anything like this before – or at least, I don't think so. Cole?"

"No, but I'm thinking, what's on the other side?"

They could see what it looked like over there; it appeared to be a jungle. But Paula knew that wasn't what he'd meant.

"Best guess?" she said ruefully. "Another reality. Which means…"

"What?" Cole said.

"The alien technically isn't an alien," Caleb said with a frown. "Strictly speaking, if that's an alternate Earth and Lizard-Boy's from there, he's as much an Earthling as we are."

"Does that change anything?" the former demon wanted to know.

"Eh, no," Paula said, "it's just technicalities. But… the fact that this is here, and wide open, is a problem. It's not the Rift, I don't know what it is, but we've got to figure out some way to close it."

"Great," Cole said. "Do we know how?"

"No," Caleb said.

"Well, that's just fantastic, isn't it?"

Paula scowled. "Shut up, Cole."

* * *

Knowing that the lizard-man had likely come from another reality did not make tracking him down any easier. Paula had no idea what his mind should feel like, so she was reduced to simply seeking out non-human minds. Which was very little help, because thanks to the small Rift, Boston had its fair share of alien citizens who did their best to blend in. That didn't even take into account the magical citizens of the area. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack of pins.

Caleb and Cole were not being very patient about it either. She knew that they were irritated by how long this was taking – so was she – but it wasn't as though they could anything about it. Her telepathy was useful, not bloody omniscient. That was something non-telepaths never seemed to properly understand. At the moment, Paula didn't feel like explaining it again, so she just ignored the boys' grumbles and concentrated on trying to find the lizard-man. At least she would know if the consciousness she felt was from another reality – though that didn't necessarily mean it would be her target. But she could tell when a being was from another reality, thanks to the…

Her breath caught in her throat. There was a song in the back of her mind, a haunting, beautiful song. But that was impossible. The TARDIS couldn't be here, not now, could it? And even if it was… It felt wrong, somehow. It took a minute for her to figure out why. This TARDIS was younger than the one she knew. It belonged to an earlier version of the Doctor. Which meant it would be a good idea to avoid it.

But it was too late. What she hadn't realized when she was too focused on the song in her head was that the TARDIS' distinctive whirring could clearly be heard from where they were, and that Cole and Caleb had already gone to investigate. "Oh, _damn_," she muttered as she ran after them. She turned the corner just as the TARDIS' form solidified and the door opened. An attractive man in a blue suit with messy brown hair and dark eyes stepped out. From descriptions, Paula was almost certain that this was the Tenth Doctor.

_Bloody hell_, she thought. _This day just went to the dogs._ _How am I supposed to play this one?_

A/N: Hey, I'm not dead! Next chapter: The not-quite-alien incursion is settled, but Paula finds to her discomfort that it's not just the Doctor's looks that change.


End file.
